Suffering from Emetophobia can cause certain changes in your daily routines and rituals. Some seem quite logical and others do not. Some of these things were done in private, out of view so to speak, from friends and family. Others may have been more obvious but was always easy to explain away if someone asked. Here are some of the things I have done or practiced in the years when I was suffering, maybe you can relate if you are going through a rough patch and know that you can put this behind you:
Hidden Habits
- Praying to God ritualistically the same prayer day and night in perfect sequence to protect and prevent you from becoming sick during the night or while away during the day
- Repeating parts of prayer or thoughts in consistent order to prevent being sick. Here is the main ritualistic prayer I used to pray for most of my childhood and early adulthood, especially before bedtime:
- Lord, Please don’t let me feel bad tonight, or be sick or anything
- Lord, Please don’t let me feel bad tonight, or be sick or anything
- Lord, Please don’t let be sick or feel bad tonight or anything
- Lord, Please don’t let me feel bad tonight, or be sick or anything
- I would reverse the third line of the prayer above for some reason and kept that prayer in that order for many, many years. It really comforted me at night and seems to have worked. During the time that I prayed that prayer I was never actually sick to my stomach. I had a few close calls but never actually did it… hmmm…. God is Great!
- Putting unrealistic constraints on things that you think will make you sick:
- If I don’t beat the yellow light… I will get sick soon
- If I don’t get to the phone by the third ring… I will get sick soon
- If I use being sick as and excuse to get out of school… I will get sick soon
- If I don’t finish a task before the clock hits a specific time…. I will get sick soon
- If I normally put my left shoe on first everyday and forget and put my right show on first…. I will get sick soon
- Avoiding crowded or long trip elevators
- Sitting at the end of the table or row in a movie theater in case you get to feeling ill
- Leaving your partner alone when she is sick, and feeling crappy about it
- Listening for retching when walking into a restroom
- Plugging your ears at night as a child when a sibling is sick or put on headphones so you can’t hear anything ( could be a visible habit if someone ever saw this,i was pretty good at hiding it)
- Watching people when out for paleness or discomfort indicative of being sick
- Holding your tongue on the soft part of your lower jaw (which I think is the Hyoglossus Muscle) below your teeth and jaw line to feel the reflex before retching (odd I know but something I did most of my young life to predict or preempt an episode of being sick in public)
Visible Habits
- Eating smaller or no meals when out with other in public places
- Using lots of hand sanitizers
- Avoiding handshakes, sometimes are necessary as not to be rude
- Avoiding flying at all
- Eating a lot of peppermint candy to calm a nervous stomach
- Not eating certain foods or drinks of certain colors that made you sick as a child
- Skipping the roller coasters and other dizzying rides
- Being hidden, absent or evasive when a stomach bug is going around
- Skipping employee luncheons or potlucks
- Not touching elevator buttons, escalator rails and door knobs if at all possible
- Avoiding physical contact with children, even more so when they have been ill
- Turning away or not watching movies or tv shows with puke scenes in them
- Avoiding or struggling with intense exercise that can make you sick
- Avoiding certain foods completely such as oysters, mayonnaise based salads, or food that has been sitting out too long from refrigeration (this list could be huge)
I know there is a lot of stuff I have missed in this list and will add them to this entry as I think of them. My point is to share some habits for you to see that you ma be able to relate to and know that you can get to where you can put them behind you.
As always, hang in there things will get better.
Rich