A question for fellow Emetophobes

[Danath]

I am, like many here, emetophobic, the idea of myself being sick or someone being sick in front of me is a scary thought to me, also the sight of human vomit scares me too.

me and my girlfriend got a kitten at the start of the week and shes been sick at least once a day since we've had her( we're taking her to the pdsa vets) now what I find curious is this - I have not been even slightly bothered by the kitten being sick (other than worrying about her health), in fact I have even remarked on it light heartedly and cleaned it up myself rather than my girlfreind doing it.

I was just curious how people with emetophobia would react to this as opposed to a human, or themself being sick.

Dan

[mumof4]

i have emetophobia aswell and like u i cant stand humans being sick ihave a 2 year old dog who was really ill and kept being sick and like u it didnt bother me at all i cleaned it up and took her to the vets.

now i have the theory is that u cant catch anything form dogs when they are ill as humans u can so maybe thats it.

plus there sick tends to be different from humans.

i hope ur kitten is okay.

[Danath]

yeah shes fine snoozing on ym lap as i type, thihk shes just getting used to a change in diet, hasn't been sick today.

its odd isn't it as its exactly the same mechanism by which animals are ill jsut that we aren't affected by it hmmmmm

Dan

[BabyRachel]

This is interesting. Ive never had an animal be sick near me so I havnt thought of it before but I think its the thing that we can't catch it from them and its very different for an animal to be sick than a human to be sick. God I hate emetophobia.

[LucyA]

Yep I agree with mumof3 that it's because we can't catch anything from them. The bad reaction we get to human vomit is to protect us from catching bugs...in the wild it'd be much better to run from it. However, in our culture and age we're taught to do the opposite, go near it and clean it up...no wonder we're panicky eh?

Being okay with animal sick is just a rational thing...there's no point in panicking about it because it's not a danger to us. Enjoy your kitten, she sounds sweet! Hope the PDSA can find out what's making her ill x

[Angelai]

Hi, I'm the same. 4 cats and just me so whatever they produce it's down to me! But it doesn't affect me like human stuff. I don't like it, it makes me a little bit nervous and queasy, but not in the same league.

x

[Danath]

warning - in depth talking about vomiting...



hmmm but you can't really catch anything from human sick, unless you come into direct contact with it and your hygiene is non-existent, the only way is that sometimes when a person is sick it rarely(depending what caused the vomiting) aerosolises some of the bacteria that made them ill, if it was something they ate, then its just about harmless, so I'm not sure if it would make sense for it to be 'instinctive' for us to flee from vomit

being ok with a human being sick is a rational thing too, its just that for some reason we have a switch thats flipped in our minds thats telling us its dangerous. I just can't see how a mind that has an irrational fear of being sick, a virtually harmless defense mechanism, can rationalise between an animal being sick or a human being sick, on a similar note to angelai's signature, just as knowing something is irrational doesn't help decrease the fear, knowing its rational doesn't either. if a madman is attacking you with an axe, one wouldn't be any less fearful of him just because it was normal and rational to be scared of him

on another side of the coin, what about babies? I also find that babies being sick is much less discomforting than an adult or an older child being sick

also, My curiosity is piqued by the fact that I am one of the few men who suffer with this phobia(that I have met...) it seems to be an unfortunate fact that women are suffering with this phobia much more and it would be interesting to know why, that is unless of course simply more women are prepared to admit it than men are, after all its often not an easy thing to admit to people.

thoughts all welcome i often feel that understanding our fears and phobias and being able to look at them scientifically and objectively helps us on the road to at least coping with, if not defeating them.

Dan

[maeanna]

Hiya just thought to add to this! I hate it when my cat or dog are sick and do panic but I can clean it up unlike when my 4yr old neice is sick and I run a mile! Weird huh! I can also deal with children under 2 being sick but no older! And I work with kids! I feel many more men do suffer but as you say don't admit it but then again I kno many emetophobes who don't admit it either as its embarassing and people don't always understand! Have u had any help for your emetophobia?

[Danath]

not really to be honest, i ended up stopping seeing my last CBT practitioner due to starting a new job and ive only just started seeing a therapist again so we'll have to see how that goes. actually having been sick imn the past year was helpful but still doesn't stop me being terrified every time i feel very sick.

Dan

[sassieb]

hi all,,thought id put my bit in..i can clean up vomit from animals and people,,but only people when i know its not a bug and i cant catch it. If they just vomit after saying they feel unwell my heart bangs away in my chest i get the mother of all hot flushes and my throat feels as though its closing yet when it comes to me,,its the feeling before i get sick that troubles me the most as i find im saying to myself whilst throwing up ahh this isnt so bad... i dont know.. i know its irrational thinking but ill be damned if i can stop myself feeling so stupid when i hear one of my children get up in the night (just to use the bathroom) and timing them and the relief when they go back to bed knowing they are fine...then the lurch in my stomach when they bang on the door to say they feel poorly...its a never ending cycle and i wish i could break it