Early detection?

[Nola]

So, this will be convoluted, but I promise I have a point...

I am an emetophobe, as many are here, I've noticed, and I was in college before I could put a name to it (also when I found this site), however, I knew from probably seven or eight that I reacted different to it than most people. My mom and brothers eventually came around to the idea that it's just who I am, and they seem to accept it (my dad says I can just 'get over it', but then he feels that way about PMS, too, but I digress...).

Anyways, my mom told me a story about when I was only one or one and a half, when her uncle was alive. He had MS (I think) and I do not remember him at all, as he died probably when I was two. He had this really gross cough (yeah, he probably couldn't help it) though, and my mom told me that whenever I would hear it, I would cry, cover my ears and hide behind a couch. She thought maybe it was emetophobia-related.

My question is, have any of you had someone tell you a story about yourself that might indicate you've had a predisposition to what would later become this fetish? ( I'm just supposing here that a philia develops similar to a phobia...)

[Kuchafya613]

I can't *explain* where most of my philias come from, but I know exactly why my phobia is what it is.

The only time my mom had really horrible morning sickness was when she was pregnant with my brother (she may have with me, but I wasn't aware of it, of course. And it wasn't that bad with my sister). At the time, I thought that parents didn't get sick...that they were invincible (I was 5). So, naturally, I was deeply upset and concerned. My parents both assured me that everything was perfectly fine. Morning sickness was normal and, at the end of it all, I would have a perfectly healthy baby brother.

But my mom miscarried.

And while my logical brain knows that vomiting does not inherently lead to death, my emotional brain still has some say in how I respond to stimuli. Since I never knew my brother, I don't really experience sadness in regards to his death, but I do experience fear when people vomit. Not even so much myself, like some, but others vomiting tends to terrify me. My conscious mind knows that it's perfectly natural and that they'll be fine, but my subconscious tells me to flee and my subconscious almost over wins over.

[GenieBenie]

I can't *explain* where most of my philias come from, but I know exactly why my phobia is what it is.

The only time my mom had really horrible morning sickness was when she was pregnant with my brother (she may have with me, but I wasn't aware of it, of course. And it wasn't that bad with my sister). At the time, I thought that parents didn't get sick...that they were invincible (I was 5). So, naturally, I was deeply upset and concerned. My parents both assured me that everything was perfectly fine. Morning sickness was normal and, at the end of it all, I would have a perfectly healthy baby brother.

But my mom miscarried.

And while my logical brain knows that vomiting does not inherently lead to death, my emotional brain still has some say in how I respond to stimuli. Since I never knew my brother, I don't really experience sadness in regards to his death, but I do experience fear when people vomit. Not even so much myself, like some, but others vomiting tends to terrify me. My conscious mind knows that it's perfectly natural and that they'll be fine, but my subconscious tells me to flee and my subconscious almost over wins over.

Oh man SowrdRush, that's rough. That also makes a lot of sense as to you're fear. Also Nola I would say that is related (I know nothing about this though) I think early childhood fears/traumas can last through life and are hard to shake. I hope that helps a little guys!

And on a side note, men who say women should get over PMS TICK. ME. OFF.

[Not_Telling]

Oh, definitely. When I was little I would giggle whenever somebody would sneeze in cartoons. I would like the sick episodes especially. I would go up in my room and play with my stuffed animals, making one of them catch a horrible cold, then through the process of contagion soon all of my other stuffed animals would get the same horrible cold and they'd all be sneezing their heads off.

Yeah. Stuff like that.

[Nola]

To Swordrush13: I'm so sorry that happened to you and your family. I don't have an explanation like that for my phobia, but I haven't thrown up since I was seven and actually get really irrationally angry when others do it, and then I seem heartless. But your fear of it, though yes, phobias are all irrational, seems to me at least as if it makes some sort of sense.

To CrazyCakes: Yes, it helps. And I agree, all men should have just one horrible period to see what women go through.

To Not_Telling: I know I did some of that during play; I made a lot of my Barbies and Kens get sick, but that wasn't until I was six or seven. I don't remember what I might have done beforehand...

[Azrael]

i was a strange kid...lol. my parents tell me that when i was really little, like around 3, i would always be poking everything's noses. on my stuffed animals, my cats, my dad, EVERYTHING that had a nose i would poke it. i know ive done other things like make all my dolls get sick and all the other usual crap...but thats the one thing my parents remember was that i was literally obsessed with noses...which i think is kinda funny actually

[Nola]

Haha, that is funny. I was the opposite and never drew noses in my pictures.

[nolongeractive]

These are interesting responses! I wasn't always scared of vomiting, I can remember in 2nd grade a kid next to me threw up on the ground and I didn't care at all. But in fourth grade, I got the stomach flu and after that I pretty much hated anything to do with vomit. It actually lead to me missing almost half of fourth grade because I was scared it would happen again. xD When I was in fifth grade I was so scared of it that when we had to study how to handle swallowing non-food items in middle school I just hid under the table the whole time. Now I can see someone vomit on TV and just look away and be okay, but if someone actually throws up near me I'll still panic. For some reason I'm more scared of men vomiting than women though, and I don't really know why.

When my sister a-red-nine and I were little there was one game we would play where one of our stuffed toys was trying to hide from the doctor so he wouldn't have to get shots, but then he would sneeze and get caught. She always made me act out that part for her, lol. Coincidentally sneezing-while-hiding is still my favorite scenario.

I recall my mom trying to teach me how to blow my nose and feeling awkward about it but not knowing why. I also remember my cousin showing me that yawning on an airplane makes your ears "pop" and being embarrassed, but now it doesn't bother me anymore. When I was little my understanding of it was that I liked sneezing, and I knew that my sister did as well, but nobody else seemed to. However, I got the sense that it was something awkward that I shouldn't share with other people, so I never talked about it.

Edited January 10, 2014 by The Cracked Egg