A friend of mine linked me to this place and before then I didn't even know there was other people like me, other people with the same phobia. Or rather I did but didn't know that there was a place where we could discuss emetophobia without being judged or considered weird.

I have had a fear of people vomiting for as long as I can remember. It has always put me on edge and I have always done my best to avoid it, I think this can go back to when I was a young child. I woke up once in the middle of the night to hear my dad being violently ill in the toilet, I remember feeling pure fear as I heard that and clamped my hands over my ears and shut my eyes so tightly. It took me ages to fall back asleep again.

Since then my fear of people vomiting has become more and more severe and in the last 5 years it has reached the current stage where if someone mentions they feel sick, I will be instantly on edge, if someone gags, heaves or retches I will physically leave the room. I am not able to stay in the same room as someone who will be ill. At all.

I didn't used to have a fear of vomiting until this summer. During the summer I stopped eating and began losing a lot of weight, a friend of mine came to visit and forced me to eat something (she was trying to help) but it resulted in me almost throwing up in a restaurant. Ever since I have had a fear of being sick and won't eat in public at all. The thought of eating in public frightens me and I can't physically do it.

I have been on anti-sickness tablets for many months now just so that I am able to eat without being sick afterwards. They help to an extent but I do get indigestion still and will sometimes feel sick after eating which throws me into a panic.

Living with emetophobia as I am sure you will understand is ruling my life. I can't go anywhere without planning around the chance of encountering vomiting or myself being ill.

I tried to talk to someone in college today about it, to see if they could find me help but I couldn't bring myself to say it. This is something I keep a secret because im embarrassed to be this way. So I came here in the hope that with other sufferers and people who have recovered that I can get some help.