I can completely understand how one extreme can lead to another.


There are people who end up in situations where their lives were in grave danger- afterwards, they realize that they like the "high" that resulted, and end up deliberately putting themselves in situations, even though it scares the hell out of them. The fact that it does scare the crap out of them is PART of the high. The extreme terror is part of what makes it exciting.


I find it very sad that people were so quick to judge- to call it a "joke", suggest that marsie leave- or call it just plain "sick". Would you like to be told that you are "sick" because you fear vomitting, or be made to feel inferior? It's obvious that the tone of the original post was not in jest- I think that if someone wanted to Troll us, the message would be a lot more explicit.


I'm glad that people apologized for their previous assumptions- I was frankly shocked when I openedthis thread by the reaction. I know that for some of us it may be unfathomable that people may be both repulsed by and aroused by vomit, but they alsoshouldn't be made to feel badly when they are asking for help.


Just because you don't understand something, you don't have to discard it as not possible. I happen to agree with Kristin when she said:


<<I just dont have it.. sorry if i dont understand but i wont judge because i dont understand.. i have been through that for too many years of being judged myself with this phobia! blah.. >>


None of us like being judged because of this phobia- there are constantly posts about people not understanding how severe the problem is, or berating one of us because we did something/didn't do something due to emetophobia. I don't think it's fair to do the same to someone else who is genuinely asking for help who has a different variation of this problem and who is having a hard times coming to terms with it.


Marsie- first off welcome. Second, I'm not really sure of the solution to this issue, or how it should be treated. Hmmmm- I'm wondering what Sage, the resident "expert" in terms of treatment (she is a psychologist herself who has been treated and considers herself cured) would suggest- or if it even would be different from standard treatment.


Maybe the reason why you are aroused by it is that you are SO repulsed by it- maybe if you weren't so repulsed by it, and did CBT therapy to view vomitting as a normal, bodily function, the attraction wouldn't be there anymore. Removing the extreme emotional response that you have to vomitting may end up removing the aspect that is arousing. Of course, this is only a guess on my part- I really have no clue.


Goodluck on everything- if you ever want to talk feel free to PM me.


*amber*