- Date posted
- 1y
Phobia frustration
Working on my issues w ocd related emetophobia. Does anyone else struggle with this? Any response prevention messages that work for you?
Working on my issues w ocd related emetophobia. Does anyone else struggle with this? Any response prevention messages that work for you?
That’s a good question! What exactly is it about vomiting that triggers your OCD? Is it yourself doing it, watching/hearing others do it, etc? Identifying specifics could be a good place to start identifying possible exposures.
I struggled with this theme for the first 20 years of my life. It was debilitating at times. Then I accidentally experienced the most severe exposure therapy after taking a job on a whale watch. It went away immediately in one day. 20 years of suffering gone in one day, no joke. Not saying I recommend jumping into the deep end like that, but just living proof that exposure therapy really does work. I can’t stress that enough.
YES! hi! I have a support group if you’d like to join?
@stoneharperx Hello! I would love to!
Recently, I’ve been struggling a ton with what I eat/put into my body? I’m a first year college student with a few different health issues (including IBS), and lately it’s been hard for me to find food on campus that doesn’t upset my stomach. I also have pretty severe emetophobia, and feel extremely anxious when I feel sick. The ironic thing is that being anxious makes me feel even worse, so I end up sticking myself in an impossible loophole. My OCD has taken hold of these fears over the past few months, and it’s been such a struggle. Especially since people have been getting food poisoning from various dining halls on my campus lately. My OCD has gotten so bad that sometimes I’m too afraid to eat food other than what I buy myself. I feel so trapped. I don’t want my OCD to affect my physical health or prevent me from eating, bc I love eating!! It’s the fear of getting sick that’s the problem. And it’s even harder when everything is so unfamiliar. Just wondering if anyone could relate. Advice is appreciated!
Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.
This is my first time posting - I have a fear of throw up and I’ve been told it is cause from my OCD (repetitive thoughts) which makes sense because if someone gets sick it replays over and over again and I can’t get it out of my head. It’s gotten a lot worse in the past maybe two years. I’m always on edge that someone is going to get sick around me. I’ve heard the “best or most common” way to help with this is exposure therapy and OBVIOUSLY I don’t want to do that. Anyone have any tips or anything for this (or maybe have done the exposure therapy)?
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