obsessed with worry about other people throwing up

T72 · Post by **T72** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:27 pm

Here's my silly obsession (the biggest anyway)...worrying about others around me throwing up. I have always been sensitive to this. When I was young I would cover my ears with my pillow at night if I knew someone in the household was ill. Background info- my father gags at the site of gross things so who knows if he has psyched me out. I can actually handle most gross things, it is more like the act of it I worry about. Ie: when my nephew woke up in the middle of the night I immediately worried, did he wake up because he is sick? Once he got car sick on a long drive and I worried almost the entire drive back home that he would again.

I don't think I am worried about catching the stomach flu myself...who knows, maybe. But is also really bothers me when my boyfriend has had too much to drink and I wonder if he will be getting up in the middle of the night and then I have to hear it.

Why am I so worried about this?

Christian73 · Post by **Christian73** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:42 pm

Well, watching someone vomit (or doing it yourself) is certainly an uncomfortable experience. I don't think anyone enjoys it. The cognitive behavioral approach would be to expose yourself to people actually vomiting to lessen your anxiety around it.

Steph75 · Post by **Steph75** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:09 pm

I totally understand what you are talking about. I have the same problem. I can't stand to even think about it but yet it's always what I think about. I worry about people getting sick around me and me getting sick, which I can't handle at all. My boss was sick today and I did not go to work this afternoon because I did not want to get sick and did not want to be around her getting sick..So what did I think about all day...getting sick. I try to make myself not think about it and try to distract myself and think of other things but I still think about it.
Christian73...I know that people have told me to just be around it and it will get better...no..my boyfriend was very sick about a year ago and I just cannot handle it. Last time I was sick (throwing up) I was out of control and it's all I thought about for a month or so and hardly ate..