Help for a teacher with emetophobia :(

[Ethereal Astraea]

So I would say I have pretty sever emetophobia, seeing, hearing, smelling, experiencing anything related to vomit nearly gives me a nervous breakdown. Here is the problem. I'm a teacher, just a substitute for now, luckily I haven't had to deal with a child vomiting in class (or on me, oh god) but I know it's a matter of time. While most teachers accept this fact and just deal with it as gracefully as possible when it happens, I worry that my fear is so crippling I will completely freak out/faint/die (or worse, vomit) and that I won't be able to deal with the situation and be a comfort to the child. Just to give you an idea of how severe this phobia is, today I was standing in the hallway waiting to walk some students to their bus when another teacher comes up the stairs supporting a visibly upset and sick child. He tripped suddenly, and she fell over him. He started apologizing profusely and crying but she kept saying "It's okay, it's okay, you got sick, I know you're sick buddy just come sit" and she sits with him on a chair in the stair well while someone from the office takes his temp ( because apparently this school doesn't have a nurses office, wtf) but anyway, seeing his condition and the moment that teacher said "you got sick" my mind is lile "He got sick, he puked, he puked before and he's gonna do it again" I go into instant panic attack mode. Heart racing, stomach drops, palms sweating, shaking and super nauseous, I am watching this kid like a hawk, ready to bolt the second he gags. Now he didn't end up getting sick, but that nervousness stayed with me for a good 20 minutes, I could barely eat lunch and avoided the teacher who was helping him like the plague because OMG SHE MIGHT HAVE GERMS.

What am I supposed to do? I know I have to get over this fear somehow and I know a student will puke in my class/my presence/on me eventually. Does anyone have any tips? I also worry because I would like to have kids one day, but I don't know if I could deal with morning sickness/ eventual child sickness without having a nervy b.

[out_of_order]

First of all, I suggest you get treatment for your phobia so that you don't have to continue being terrorized by it. That's he long-term solution.

Short term, how would you feel about letting other teachers, and the principal, know about your phobia, how severe it is, that way you can all come up with a plan...... should one of your students vomit in your class, you'll call the office or the teacher in the next classroom, and they'll come in and take care of things. Is that a possiblity? If you let them know you're in treatment and doing your best to get a handle on your condition, I'm sure they'll be even more supportive.

[Erica1649]

Wow, you sound like me if you hear the word "sick."

Me? I work in an Internal Medicine office. I've only been here for four months and somebody got sick in our waiting room once...where is my office? IN THE EFFIN WAITING ROOM! I am on a second floor with one window....I wanted to jump out to escape so badly!!!! I can imagine how crippling this can be for you...the heart racing, the urge to go to the bathroom asap, the shaking....

The best thing for now is to not think that its going to happen every day...you could be lucky and it may never happen. Good luck!

[hairyfairy]

I get a bit confused sometimes when reading threads posted by american members because when people in america say they`re sick, they don`t always mean vting, they use the word sick to mean any illness, even the common cold. It`s the same with tv programmes from Americs.