what do i do?

[chloehoran]

hello everyone,
i've just found this website and i'm glad i did. i'm 15 years old and have been dealing with the fear of v* since i was about 10 years old. I was doing research today and i am pretty sure i have emetophobia as i can relate to the symptoms. The fear of being ill in class is physically stopping me from going to school and i am missing out on a lot of work and tests that are important. My fear of v* is also stopping me from travelling, eating food, going out with friends and making me depressed all the time. My old therapist i used to go to when i was younger tried some CBT on me but that never really worked... I felt like she didn't really understand me... maybe she hadn't had a client with emetophobia? i'm not sure. Anyway, i was just wondering if anyone had any advice they could give to help me. Should i go back to therapy or should i try something else?
Thank you

[Kittycat319]

Hello there! I'm Amanda and I'm 18, just graduated high school in June so were around the same age
I'd definitely vote that you go back to counseling I had very bad anxiety relating to emet back in march and counseling gave me a great push on the road to recovery.

[chloehoran]

thank you Amanda! i think i will go back to counselling

[Kittycat319]

Good! Let us know how it goes and come to the forums if you're ever In need of help!

[Ana Bellini]

Hi Chloe! I'm Ana, 15 as well

Don't let this fear develop even further. Like Amanda said, find another therapist. Maybe it's not CBT, it's just the therapist. I've been to five different therapists (going to my 6th soon) and I feel that only the last one helped me when I needed the most. She had never heard about emetophobia before, yet she was able to help me a lot. I only stopped seeing her when I moved, but we're still in touch.

If you can, I'd look for a psychiatrist too - meds help a lot, and along with therapy it can make us someone else! Psychiatrists are not for crazy people. Just like people with heart problems go to cardios, we go to psychiatrists. Nothing to me ashamed of. Some people choose not to use meds - I did otherwise, and I don't regret it. Again, some people need, what's the word... a support to walk. We need one to think.

You can add me on facebook if you want - I don't have many friends and I'd love to talk, of course, if you want to. It's my name, and the picture is a girl on a notebook. The cover is the same girl sitting on a rock, surrounded by ice.

Stay strong

Oh, something else: Don't google all your fears. Google has the amazing capacity of making us worry even more.