Spit?

[marie123]

*Possible Trigger*

So as a kid I was convinced that germs lied in our spit. And that by swallowing your spit, you were basically ingesting the germs that would make you s***. For at least 4 months I would accumulate my spit, grab a tissue, then spit it out and throw away the tissue. I don't even know what I was thinking. I did this at school too and I probably used more tissues in a week than the rest of the class during the whole year. I mean people probably though I had nasal issues now that I think of it. I'm glad I somehow managed to get rid of this behavior but I think after doing this for so long, I lost the ability to swallow my spit as a reflex. Just thought Id share to see if anyone else has gone through a similar thing.

Sorry for the gross story though.

[Jess44246]

First of all, welcome to the IES!

Being a trombonist and knowing spit through and through, if there's too much or too little spit in your mouth to swallow then fill your mouth with water then swallow it all. In you're case, even if there's a fine amount but your body still won't let you swallow it, fill your moth with water then swallow it all. As a kid you should've put a salty cracker in your mouth (with spit) for about two minutes to taste it breaking down (tastes sweet) to help you see that spit is just meant to help break down certain foods and to moisten most of them. And hey, I don't think you seemed too weird doing that as a kid, because I can rarely go 1 class in winter without having to spit phlegm into a tissue.

[chicajojobe]

That...is a new one for me.

I've seen plenty of people who carry about spit bottles, but it's because they dip.

Not judgement, though. We all have weird superstitions that stem from emet.

[Jess44246]

Oh, we definitely have weird superstitions from emetophobia! Many are terrified of the date they last v year after year, but I don't know the date. One of my superstitions from emetophobia is that if a person eats the same type of food that they have v up before, their mind will not accept it because it's associating the food with a virus and will force them to v.