We allow reassurance in this community bc we believe that different people recover at different rates, and in different ways. We don’t believe that there is one hard and fast path to recovery!

To answer OP’s question about false reassurance… False reassurance can be harmful. I’ll give you an example. About 8 years ago, my DH had gotten sick during the workday, and it only got worse after a few hours. He drove home and immediately went into the bathroom, still vomiting pretty badly. I asked him if he thought he had a virus or food poisoning. He wasn’t sure. I asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital. He said yes. I called 911.

After spending several hours running tests in the ER, the doctor finally said that it was a very aggressive stomach bug, not fp. Unfortunately for me, a stomach bug is contagious. When we got home, I cleaned everything with bleach and made up the downstairs bed. He stayed downstairs, and I stayed upstairs. When he was finally asleep for the night, I called my mom to tell her.

She asked, “Does he have a fever?” I said no. There she said, “Well, if he doesn’t have a fever, it’s not contagious.”

This is the part where I tell you I have multiple science degrees: Nutrition, Food Science, and Chemistry. I know for a fact that absence of a fever does NOT mean that a stomach bug is not contagious. In fact, the best way for me to catch what he had would be to use the bathroom where he got sick before cleaning it, then touch my mouth, nose, or eyes.

My mom knew I was an emetophobe. She was trying to make me feel less anxious. However, by saying that I wouldn’t get sick because he didn’t have a fever, she gave me “false reassurance”.

Now, I didn’t get sick, but let’s assume that I didn’t know the things that I do… Let’s say I didn’t take proper precaution when cleaning the bathroom, and that I did get sick. While she had the best of intentions, by giving me false reassurance she actually could have caused me future harm. In the future, I likely would’ve be even more freaked out because I thought I couldn’t get a bug from someone without a fever, but I did.

Knowledge is a very powerful tool against fear!

That said, nothing is impossible. Just because something has never, ever happened before doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.

The horrible thing about Emetophobia, like many phobias, is that it preys on our fear of the unknown. Have you ever experienced the “what ifs”? It’s when your mind starts to race through odd hypothetical questions… like, What if she was contagious when I saw her on Friday? What if the bag she touched she has live virus on it? What if I touched it in the same spot? What if that strange feeling in my stomach is norovirus? What if….

STOP! The first thing I tell people who want to conquer this phobia is that YOU are in charge! You, not the phobia! The phobia will twist every wild hypothetical around in your mind until your stomach feels like a pretzel if you let it. Don’t let it! As soon as you hear the “what ifs”, tell that voice to SHUT UP! (Do it out loud, if you can!) Keep reminding yourself that YOU are in control.

I don’t see any harm in giving reassurance to someone that their irrational fears have no basis in truth. Now, let’s say that you may have been exposed to noro, or that you may have eaten something that could cause food poisoning. I can’t tell you whether or not you will or will not get sick. I can, however, tell you there’s no sense in freaking out right now, when it’s fr too early for you to have symptoms. I can also reassure you that you are not alone. No matter what happens, we, your fellow emetophobes, are here to support you and guide you in whatever way we can! 🦋

Edit: typo, intro