My phobia brings on signs of anxiety attacks
My husband is getting so tired of us having to take taxis home from local parties and clubs because I can't face walking down our main street. There are so many places where people can get drunk and might vomit, that I can't risk it.
If my husband is really firm and insists that we walk home, I make him walk through back streets so as not to encounter someone being sick. Also, I won't visit anyone who is ill and I don't go into work if there is a stomach bug going around. If I discover that someone I know is sick, I worry about it for days. This phobia is making me experience increasing signs of anxiety attacks, and is really affecting my entire life.
'I've never been comfortable around sickness, but I've only been scared of it since 1990, when I was coming around from an anaesthetic (after I had had my hysterectomy) and I heard the woman in the next hospital bed vomiting all through the night. It was awful. I started to feel nauseous and I began to retch so hard that I was convinced that I was going to die. It was one of the worst nights of my life and I made the hospital staff find me a side room for the rest of my stay. The thought of that time makes me feel panicky and I can feel the nausea come over me. I'd rather not even think about it and I certainly never want to go into hospital again.'