Quote Originally Posted by yourjedi View Post
I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder that manifests itself in emetophobia during certain parts of my life.
Sounds like me too. My emetophobia is fine when I'm not anxious but other things. But when school becomes stressful, or there are things going on with my family, the emetophobia strikes back. It's all tied in with my GAD, I think. My phobia used to be entirely situational and only bother me when someone in my house was being sick, or if I saw it. Which wasn't a lot. And then when I started having panic attacks and was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the emetophobia became 24/7. I was actually almost fear-free for about 3 years until my anxiety came back full force.

I'm working on recovery. I know I'm in a rough spot right now, as I've been posting a lot and constantly seeking reassurance. I need to work through my anxiety once again, perhaps readjust my medication, as the Zoloft I was prescribed 4 years ago has really helped. I also need to keep proving to myself that I'm fine, and that I can handle it. I've v*d twice in the past twelve months, for the first time in 13 years. And both times were absolutely fine, not traumatic in the least. I need to keep using those situations to my advantage, and reminding myself that there's nothing to fear. It's the buildup that is scary, and it would make even a "normal" person anxious - but the v*ing is harmless.

We're all capable of recovering. I know I'm on my way. I'm certainly still nowhere near as bad as I once was. I can now cope with v*ing in non-contagious settings - i.e if someone is drunk, has food poisoning, etc. It's the bug that really still freaks me out, and I'm going to start seeing a counselor regularly to help overcome that fear. I want to accept that v*ing is a natural part of life and it happens from time to time, not dread it and let it consume my days.