inheriting a phobia

[Aspie Grrrl]

I heard an interview on NPR with an emetophobe who passed the fear on to his daughter despite NEVER letting her see him panic. His book discusses inherited phobias in more depth, but I haven't read it yet.

What I do know is that my own emet is 100% inherited. My first sickness-induced panic attack was at age 2. No one had ever modeled this behavior to me and my mom doesn't know why it happened. In my adult years, I learned that my dad, aunt, brother, and grandpa all suffer with varying degrees of emetophobia. My dad has only vomited ONCE in my 30 years on earth and grandpa hasn't done "it" (his words) since 1973! My little niece is the latest to develop it. She's the only one in her household who has it.

Do the best you can to stay calm around your children, but don't beat yourself up if they develop the same fear. Anxiety disorders in general have a strong genetic link. Once they're old enough you can explain that it's an irrational fear if they do see you panic. Communication is always better than obscuring things when it comes to family