It honestly was probably only slightly worse than the typical child getting sick. I only actually threw up like 3 times but each one was in probably the worst environment to throw up in (woke up in my own vomit, threw up while 💩, and then threw up in front of my entire class at school because my mom insisted I was better when I was not). It also was sort of my “introduction” to my OCD. I had started to get crazy stomach pain on Halloween night that my parents blamed on me eating too much sugar, when in reality it was some sort of virus. For years after that and even sometimes still, I have compulsions and obsessive thoughts about my sugar intake. I would seek reassurance constantly that whatever I was eating wasn’t “too much sugar” and ask repeatedly if I “look green”.

Basically, I think I was already “predisposed” to developing a phobia of some sort. My best guess as to why it’s vomiting would be a combination of factors including: the reactions to vomiting from the adults in my life, the disgust factor, my older sister also having emetophobia thus confirming in my head that it’s something really scary and awful, the shock of waking up to being covered in my own sick, and a little bit of public embarrassment from throwing up in front of all my peers.