Living with Emetophobia....My Story
Living with any kind of phobia must be, at best, inconvenient, and no doubt can become a living hell. It depends what youre phobic about: if its something thats easy to avoid, like heights, its not likely to cause too much difficulty; on the other hand, if the object of your phobia is something that is an inescapable part of everyday existence, it must make life difficult to bear. One well-known example is agoraphobia. Less well-known, but apparently very common, is emetophobia, which is narrowly defined as a fear of vomiting, but usually includes the additional fear of seeing other people vomiting, and also extends to a general fear of feeling nauseous. Generally, the effect on the life of an emetophobe is that he or she lives a life dictated by a constant programme of trying to avoid becoming nauseous or being exposed to people who are. For me, and probably for countless other women sufferers, the most profoundly traumatic effect was the impact my phobia had on me during motherhood, which in its early stages is a period which is almost defined by nausea and vomiting. And that was only the beginning. Then comes the fear that my children might get bugs that would cause them to vomit. And of course, they did, leading to crises of anxiety and compulsive preventative and curative behaviour. This has made me to feel that I didnt adequately perform my duties as a mother, despite being so evidently devoted to that role. Aside from my children, there were many other strands of life that this phobia affected. For instance, I am still troubled by guilt that I didnt adequately support friends who were ill (including two who ultimately died from cancer) because of a fear of them vomiting in my presence. More trivially, there was fear of travel sickness which was so bad I avoided travelling by aeroplane for 30 years. I am now a Grandmother to three beautiful children, I live in Southern Spain and my dearest wish is to be able to have them come and visit me for holidays. I want to be able to love them properly and not at arms length as I did with my own children. My story is a compelling account of life with a near-debilitating fear and how I managed to keep it a secret for 46 years but through my own shame and not without the understanding and love of my 3rd husband have almost managed to overcome it.
1105348844
Living with Emetophobia....My Story
Living with any kind of phobia must be, at best, inconvenient, and no doubt can become a living hell. It depends what youre phobic about: if its something thats easy to avoid, like heights, its not likely to cause too much difficulty; on the other hand, if the object of your phobia is something that is an inescapable part of everyday existence, it must make life difficult to bear. One well-known example is agoraphobia. Less well-known, but apparently very common, is emetophobia, which is narrowly defined as a fear of vomiting, but usually includes the additional fear of seeing other people vomiting, and also extends to a general fear of feeling nauseous. Generally, the effect on the life of an emetophobe is that he or she lives a life dictated by a constant programme of trying to avoid becoming nauseous or being exposed to people who are. For me, and probably for countless other women sufferers, the most profoundly traumatic effect was the impact my phobia had on me during motherhood, which in its early stages is a period which is almost defined by nausea and vomiting. And that was only the beginning. Then comes the fear that my children might get bugs that would cause them to vomit. And of course, they did, leading to crises of anxiety and compulsive preventative and curative behaviour. This has made me to feel that I didnt adequately perform my duties as a mother, despite being so evidently devoted to that role. Aside from my children, there were many other strands of life that this phobia affected. For instance, I am still troubled by guilt that I didnt adequately support friends who were ill (including two who ultimately died from cancer) because of a fear of them vomiting in my presence. More trivially, there was fear of travel sickness which was so bad I avoided travelling by aeroplane for 30 years. I am now a Grandmother to three beautiful children, I live in Southern Spain and my dearest wish is to be able to have them come and visit me for holidays. I want to be able to love them properly and not at arms length as I did with my own children. My story is a compelling account of life with a near-debilitating fear and how I managed to keep it a secret for 46 years but through my own shame and not without the understanding and love of my 3rd husband have almost managed to overcome it.
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Living with Emetophobia....My Story

Living with Emetophobia....My Story

by Caroline Dowdall
Living with Emetophobia....My Story

Living with Emetophobia....My Story

by Caroline Dowdall

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Overview

Living with any kind of phobia must be, at best, inconvenient, and no doubt can become a living hell. It depends what youre phobic about: if its something thats easy to avoid, like heights, its not likely to cause too much difficulty; on the other hand, if the object of your phobia is something that is an inescapable part of everyday existence, it must make life difficult to bear. One well-known example is agoraphobia. Less well-known, but apparently very common, is emetophobia, which is narrowly defined as a fear of vomiting, but usually includes the additional fear of seeing other people vomiting, and also extends to a general fear of feeling nauseous. Generally, the effect on the life of an emetophobe is that he or she lives a life dictated by a constant programme of trying to avoid becoming nauseous or being exposed to people who are. For me, and probably for countless other women sufferers, the most profoundly traumatic effect was the impact my phobia had on me during motherhood, which in its early stages is a period which is almost defined by nausea and vomiting. And that was only the beginning. Then comes the fear that my children might get bugs that would cause them to vomit. And of course, they did, leading to crises of anxiety and compulsive preventative and curative behaviour. This has made me to feel that I didnt adequately perform my duties as a mother, despite being so evidently devoted to that role. Aside from my children, there were many other strands of life that this phobia affected. For instance, I am still troubled by guilt that I didnt adequately support friends who were ill (including two who ultimately died from cancer) because of a fear of them vomiting in my presence. More trivially, there was fear of travel sickness which was so bad I avoided travelling by aeroplane for 30 years. I am now a Grandmother to three beautiful children, I live in Southern Spain and my dearest wish is to be able to have them come and visit me for holidays. I want to be able to love them properly and not at arms length as I did with my own children. My story is a compelling account of life with a near-debilitating fear and how I managed to keep it a secret for 46 years but through my own shame and not without the understanding and love of my 3rd husband have almost managed to overcome it.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781456787172
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Publication date: 09/02/2011
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 100
File size: 278 KB

About the Author

I was born in Southampton , Hampshire in 1957 but moved away when I was 10 years old as my father was in the police force. I left school in 1972 and was lucky enough to start working in a bank. I have more or less worked in finance most of my working life apart from when I was a kitchen manager for Hampshire schools and also ran a public house for a few years. I have three grown sons and now have three grandchildren. I have lived in the USA , Cyprus and Now am settled in Spain with my 6 beautiful dogs. When in Cyprus I was the treasurer, shipping agent and general cleaner on a voluntary basis which I found to be extremely rewarding. I also boarded dogs at my home and had a wonderful selection of dogs that used to come for 'doggie hols' on a regular basis and I loved each and every one of them dearly. I spend my time now doing small DIY chores on our lovely old spanish farmhouse , taking care of my dogs , gardening , swimming and generally having a wonderful life while my poor husband works very hard for us and is currently in Portugal.
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