Hi all. My name is Mike and i'm 16. Ever since I was in 4th or 5th grade, I
have been EXTREMELY afraid of vomiting, in all meanings of the word. I
am afraid of myself getting sick, and I am EXTREMELY afraid of someone
else getting sick, either near me, or even in the same HOUSE.

Ironically, in 1st grade, while I was quite young, a girl got sick, right
behind me during arts/crafts. I was perfectly fine, and I acted perfectly
normal. Then, in 4th or 5th grade, I had a friend from my side
neighborhood spend the night. He stayed in my room, and we stayed up
fairly late. When I woke up in the morning, I tried to wake my friend up.
He woke up fine. We began to talk, as he was only a few feet away from
me at the side of my bed. All of a sudden, he hiccupped and literally ran
for the bathroom in my hall. It was like an automatic reaction that I had
no idea of: I SPRINTED towards my dad across the other side of my
house, with my hands covering my ears (so i wouldn't hear anything). As
I was running, I was kept on repeating "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!. . .".
Even though I was far away from the bathroom, I kept my hands over my
ears. I ran to the kitchen and told my dad, and he helped clean up the
bathroom. I saw him helping my friend.

I was scarred that day. For life. That may seem quite dramatic to you,
but it changed my life. I remember acting very strange the rest of the
day. I took a walk with my mom, and we talked about it. I told her that I
was completely afraid of the thought of someone else throwing up. She
didn't know what to do.

Over the next few years, I would go to my friends house to spend the
night, but end up calling my parents at midnight to have them come and
pick me up. All because of emet. The same thing happened when kids
would spend the night at my house too.

It has since gotten worse. I WILL NOT spend the night, EVER, or have
anyone spend the night at my house. Period. It is horrible, and I over the
years, I felt like a freak.

Then there are the times where in middle school, a kid would get sick
during lunch time. It's bound to happen. Well, of course, it did happen. I
threw away the rest of my lunch, and started to have a panic attack
(subconsiously so no-body could tell). I wanted to jump the little fence
that guarded the lunch area so I wouldn't have to go past the "ewwww".

And recently, 2 years ago, (8th grade) one of the kids at my school got
sick right after finishing running a mile during PE class. I was far behind
him, and I as I finished, I ran right past the spot. I actually acted calm. I
asked one of my friends all calmly, "Who barfed dude?". But
subconsiously, it hurt, REALLY BAD. The rest of class, I couldn't stop
freaking out on the inside. I even told my PE teacher about it, but he just
told me to suck it up.

Now, even this year, when my dad gets sick, I will sleep in the living
room, farthest away from his. And what is really scarring to me is the
way my dad "gags" himself, sort of, while brushing his teeth and gargling.
It makes me go NUTS!

Know what the weird thing is? If someone is sick, I actually ask them if
they vomited. For some reason, I just HAVE to ask. I don't know why. It
even got to me one day, that I GOOGLED the word vomit. I found a
website with pictures of people doing it. I was so afraid of the idea of
vomiting that I actually looked at pictures of people doing it! That
doesn't even make sense. That is why I feel i am going insane over the
whole issue.

And know what else? I VERY rarely get sick myself. Besides being a baby,
I have gotten sick twice. And every time I feel nautious is at nigh