Nervous about exposure therapy...

[Rls1994]

As most of you know, I have emetophobia. I'm having some exposure sessions at the moment and the thought of seeing videos and images of people being sick is making me feel SO ill...

I've been asked to write down things that make me anxious, from the least which is talking about vomit, to the worst, which is of course, being sick... That's what is making me nervous. How are they going to help me with that?

Thing is, if this is going to help me rid of this phobia forever, I'm definitely going to get through it, no matter how hard it will be.

If any of you have had exposure therapy then can you tell me how it was? Did it work?

[Arnie365]

Hi rls1994

I can't relate to the type of exposure you need but guess they are all equally difficult for us depending upon our anxiety.

My fear and anxiety is having a heart attack so my avoidance is anything which gets my heart rate going so my exposure is to get to the gym and push myself to get my heart rate up. I still find it hard to do this but am making progress as I take the dogs out for a good hour walk every morning and walk at quite a brisk pace to get my heart rate up. I have ventured to the gym a few times as well and done the treadmill and have survived though did have a panic attack last time I went as i thought my pulse rate was to high thus making it go higher with anxiety!

I also get really anxious if there is a song on the radio that mentions heart attack (olly murs) or cardiac arrest (little mix). Sounds daft maybe but I feel myself tense up when they come on so just being able to listen to the song is exposure. I can even sing along (badly) now so that's progress for me.

Exposure is really hard, I won't sugar coat it but it's only hard because you are confronting and taking on the very root of your problem.

Be brave and it will be good for you in the long run, promise.

[star2sparkle]

I believe RLs that exposure therapy will help you, desensitize you to anything related to vomit, which will be good in the long run. However, we all know that in order to overcome a fear you have to face it head on. This isn't possible with emetophobia so be aware of that. There is no miracle cure but if it ever did happen, you'd have plenty of coping skills already in place. Stick at it; you are very brave and should be extremely proud of yourself.