Hello and welcome, I hope you find this thread can give you some support. I totally understand how you feel, it's completely irrational isn't it. I think the white noise suggestion is really good. To be honest, I would want to be out of there - my fight or flight response is very strong and I have to work hard not to just flee when I'm scared. I hope you manage to stay clear of anything and your Dad has gotten over his illness too xxHi everyone, I hope you don’t mind me joining!
My dad is currently ill with a sickness bug and the past two nights I’ve been woken up to the sound of him being ill. I used to have a real phobia of myself being sick, but now it is around other people and a fear of hearing/seeing them. I have been laying in bed covering my ears trying to block out the noise. I then can’t settle again in case I wake up and it is happening again.
I try to be realistic and ask myself what is it I’m so afraid of/what will happen, but I can’t give myself an answer. It is such an irrational fear.
I am so glad to have found this page and others who can relate! I’m at a point now where I’m considering staying in a hotel for a couple of nights until I’m certain it has passed
Emetophobia - any fellow sufferers? What do you do to cope?
- Thread starter Mummaabc
- Start date
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swimming
VIP Member
This was me a few weeks back when I stayed at my parents house and my mum was being sick. I laid in bed with my fingers in my ears humming to block out any sound and as soon as I saw the bathroom light being turned off I knew she had left the bathroom. But I didn’t sleep all night, everytime I heard the floorboards creak in the hallway I knew someone was getting up again. You’re not alone xHi everyone, I hope you don’t mind me joining!
My dad is currently ill with a sickness bug and the past two nights I’ve been woken up to the sound of him being ill. I used to have a real phobia of myself being sick, but now it is around other people and a fear of hearing/seeing them. I have been laying in bed covering my ears trying to block out the noise. I then can’t settle again in case I wake up and it is happening again.
I try to be realistic and ask myself what is it I’m so afraid of/what will happen, but I can’t give myself an answer. It is such an irrational fear.
I am so glad to have found this page and others who can relate! I’m at a point now where I’m considering staying in a hotel for a couple of nights until I’m certain it has passed
happycamper123
New member
Yes! This is exactly it!! It’s awful x
White noise is a good idea, I also thought about an audio book with headphones on
Penny for them
Chatty Member
Absolutely x escape and comfort,audio book is a great idea.
Penny for them
Chatty Member
How are you doing? The likelihood is -you did get through,and that's the thing with the vile hard times,you can't stop,you have to keep moving through-however you do it -how we all have coping mechanisms to move ,heave ho though the mud,and the mornings for me bring comfort,or perhaps the worse is over or a new
Day to prepare and breathe. I hope your daughter is ok x
Edit- your daughter needs you x I do hope you are ok reading your last sentence again
happycamper123
New member
My dad was poorly again last night - we had a couple of days where he seemed better so I thought we were past it
I put on white noise when I went to bed (heavy rain with thunderstorms), and it seemed to work! Thank you so much guys for that suggestion
swimming
VIP Member
5am on Xmas morning and I’m at my parents for Xmas with my son. I’m in the bedroom with him (18 months) and we’ve got white noise playing cos he has that for bedtime and I am convinced I can hear someone being sick.
This happened last time I was here, my mum was being sick with a virus in the night and I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I’m convinced.
I absolutely hate hate hate this phobia and now I know I won’t be able to get back off to sleep
This happened last time I was here, my mum was being sick with a virus in the night and I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I’m convinced.
I absolutely hate hate hate this phobia and now I know I won’t be able to get back off to sleep
I'm having a difficult time. Babysat for a friend and her son was sick (little annoyed as he had been sick the night before but she said he was fine, but when we got round I could see on his face he wasn't). Thankfully my husband dealt with it and cleaned up but now 36 hours later he is very sick with d&v. I've now had to start another 48 hour countdown in case I've caught anything from him. I've not eaten all day which I know is going to make me feel unwell but I'm scared of eating. I also feel really guilty that I can't comfort him the way I would need him to comfort me.
Penny for them
Chatty Member
I find it really annoying when people are blaze,like leave their kids,send them to school,take them
Swimming when they were ill the day before. It's hard because i am always trying to reduce risk and some people don't give a tit. Poor lad not feeling right,and he's with a babysitter,not his mum,that in itself is tough-did you check with the
Parents if they have anything? As it could be not connected,but It
Sounds like it might
I’m sorry that you have been put in this position. It’s very irresponsible of your friend to leave her son when he is unwell and unfair of her to put you both in this position.
Try not to feel guilty. I’m sure that your husband will be okay, and apart from maybe providing water, there isn’t a lot you can do anyway. People who don’t have this phobia tend to bounce back and forget about it anyway. As long as you’re washing your hands, and maybe keeping the bathroom window open if possible to disperse the aerosols, you will hopefully be okay.
Try to eat something however small. I understand the anxiety though. x
I find it really annoying when people are blaze,like leave their kids,send them to school,take them
Swimming when they were ill the day before. It's hard because i am always trying to reduce risk and some people don't give a tit. Poor lad not feeling right,and he's with a babysitter,not his mum,that in itself is tough-did you check with the
Parents if they have anything? As it could be not connected,but It
Sounds like it might
Thank you both for the support. It's just so tough and draining to be worried about it. Neither of us ever got sick in our twenties/early-thirties, then most of our friends had kids and we've just been catching all sorts off them. I've tried hypnotherapy which helped the general day to day phobia but having something happen so directly is a real test. It's also tricky to know what a normal level of anxiety over it should be, as of course no one likes being sick.
The dad has been unwell today just as bad as my OH. The mum and daughter have been fine though. It's tough as we like babysitting to help them out, and she did seem to think he was fine but it's possible she was in denial as she was desperate to go out. It also took them over an hour to even see I had rung 5 times and messaged that he was unwell (on the floor no less so lots of clean up) - again so lucky OH was with me this time!
maytoseptember
VIP Member
Totally selfish behaviour, lying about how ill he was because they wanted their night out. I really hate people who do things like that.
Also seen now the mum went to a house party last night - so potentially exposing over 20 people to the bug too. I think she now does feel guilty after seeing how sick her OH has been today and knowing my OH has it too. This is a new side to her I've not seen before.
I've eaten a packet of crisps and some crackers today, plus a lucasade sport. I know it's not good but I hope if I do come down with it, it means it'll be less v*.
I've eaten a packet of crisps and some crackers today, plus a lucasade sport. I know it's not good but I hope if I do come down with it, it means it'll be less v*.
Oh @Beatrix I am so sorry that you're in this situation. I can totally sympathise and would react exactly as you have done - stopping eating/drinking is one of my response behaviours as well.
You say you've tried hypnotherapy and I'm glad it's helping day to day. Have you thought about CBT?
I agree with what the others have said about your friend obviously wanting to go out and it's not very nice of her to put you into this position. Does she know about your phobia? If so then that's even worse.
I hope you're staying well and you're finding it easier to cope today.
I know it's hard but the anxiety will pass, you will get through it xxx
You say you've tried hypnotherapy and I'm glad it's helping day to day. Have you thought about CBT?
I agree with what the others have said about your friend obviously wanting to go out and it's not very nice of her to put you into this position. Does she know about your phobia? If so then that's even worse.
I hope you're staying well and you're finding it easier to cope today.
I know it's hard but the anxiety will pass, you will get through it xxx
Thank you for the kind message. I'm still in the countdown stage - just got to get through to the morning I think then I'll feel 'clear'.
I think after this episode I'm going to look into CBT. The hypnotherapy has helped a lot already but I need some more coping strategies for times like these... I know it's irrational to not eat for 2 days!
I've only recently been talking to people more about my phobia - she does know I don't like it but she doesn't know how deeply it affects me. But phobia or not it's not cool, my OH doesn't have the phobia but I'm sure he would have preferred not to be so unwell. It's sad as I'm really put off now babysitting for anyone.
I completely understand, everything about this phobia is irrational isn't it. I agree, she shouldn't have put anyone in that position, phobia or no phobia - no one wants to be poorly do they.
You should definitely look into CBT, I self referred to iTalk and they've been really helpful. I've progressed to graded exposure, which sounds scary but it is very slow and at my pace. It's backed up with lots of studies and proven to be very effective with emetophobia in particular.
I'm sorry you've been put off babysitting. I find I'm very 'once bitten twice shy' about things like that, so I can sympathise.
Thank you so much for the advice - I'm going to look into iTalk
Its interesting as my brother is the complete opposite to me, he has zero qualms about it yet we grew up in the same house. In talking to him about it we realised there were times that he was sick but in my memory I attributed it to myself. In reality growing up I was unwell only a couple of times but he was constantly unwell. So interesting how our minds work and cope (or not cope) with these things and memories get distorted.
My therapist was telling me that people who suffer with this phobia are likely to not be particularly sickly people. I guess it makes sense though as you'll have been conditioned to grin and bear it if it happened often.
I hope you have some luck with the self referral, it could be beneficial to talk to your GP as they may be able to help you get seen a bit quicker.