I'm new here so i figured i would share my story. I'm Hollie, I'm 17 years old, and I've been living with Emet since i was about 10. Emetophobia has changed my life incredibly, and not in a good way, although I'm used to the changes by now. I think my emetophobia all started when my mother got really sick. She wasn't even contagious. She was sick because of a medicine she was taking, after having a root canal. But thats what started it all. It just got worse when my brother, who is 5 years older than me, started doing drugs and drinking all the time. He was constantly sick from that... It was torture to live in my own house, I didn't feel safe anymore. I became depressed and I couldn't make anyone understand. I thought seriously of suicide, because nobody understood me, and i felt like a such a burden. In the 7th grade i refused to go to school. If my mother would make me, i would just end up calling someone to come pick me up. I wouldn't eat, I could barely sleep, and every time i left my house, i about had a nervous breakdown. My mother finally took me out of school and started me on a homeschool program. She also started taking me to a therapist, and i got put on an anxiety medication, which helped alot. Since then I've learned how to deal with my fears. Or at least control them better. What helped me the most was my Faith. Also animals played a major role in my learning to deal. Horses have always been a large part of my life, when i'm around horses, there's no more fear. Also, now my mother understands and supports me 100%. It took her a while, but she gets me now. She's been kinda my backbone for the past few years and i love her for that. So many people think, "oh, its no big deal. its just a little fear" but it's not "just a little fear" its a phobia, it changes a person's life. Its as real as cancer, or any other life-changing thing. I wish everyone could see that.
anyways, thats my story (:
oh, here's a picture of me and my biggest help against emet. (: