Emetophobia

[Summerinvincible]

My 11 year old daughter has emetophobia.

She’s had anxiety for years and very low self esteem caused by her father leaving and starting a family with another woman when she was 7.

All these things have contributed towards her emetophobia. We have just started the Thrive program.

Does anyone have experience with dealing with emetophobia?

[smallwolf]

Hello there and welcome to the beyond blue forums. I have to admit that I had to do a search of the internet to find out what it is. So from that you would know I have little experience. However I know from other conversations that these things can be day to day struggle. And because of that I won't guess where it came from.

I wonder how you are coping with all of this?

I also wanted to make sure that your post didn't get lost in the system! If you want to tell me how this affects your daughter and you I am listening.

Tim

[Summerinvincible]

Hi Tim

thank you for replying! Yesterday was a bad day. I cried a lot. My daughter’s teacher called me as her general anxiety affects her during school. She puts pressure on herself to get everything done perfectly, when there is never any requirement to do so. She collapsed in the classroom with emotional stress and it took her a long time to get back to normal.

it’s extra stressful for me right now as I fractured my foot 8 weeks ago but I still can’t walk without a moon boot. I’m seeing my GP today to find out what is going on with this swelling in my forefoot and toes. The specialist I saw at the hospital told me everything was fine and I was clear to go home and start getting back to normal over the next 1-2 weeks.
But it’s not happening even though the bone seems to have healed. I’m worried. It’s making it difficult to deal with everything else in my life.

My daughter has seen psychologists in the past but they didn’t help much - in the end she got over her previous phobia (storms) and self-harming by herself. But this one is different - lots of adults still have it and it effects their daily life. I’m happy to pay for therapy but I’m not confident that it will help, and I’m on a low income so need to spend wisely. Guess I will get a mental health care plan for 10 sessions from the GP and take it from there.

Thanks for listening.

[Sophie_M]

Hi Summerinvincible, 

This sounds incredibly difficult, and it sounds like you’re a really supportive parent. It’s really good that you could share this here, and that you’re working so hard to help your daughter through this. We hope you can find some comfort and understanding here on the forums.  

We’re glad to hear you’re planning to talk to the GP about this. There's some advice on the Beyond Blue website here about having the conversation with your health professional. It can be helpful to plan and think about this in advance, and might help you to discuss this with your daughter. 

It sounds like you’re dealing with a lot, and we don’t want you to feel you’re alone with this. If you ever want to talk things through with the Beyond Blue counsellors, please don't hesitate to give us a call on 1300 22 4635. We'd also recommend encouraging your daughter to call us, or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. One of our friendly counsellors will be able to talk through these feelings with her. They're really good at supporting people through panic or distress, right in the moment. These options are available through webchat, if you'd prefer: 

• Beyond Blue 
• Kids Helpline 

It might be helpful to you to call Parentline. Their  counsellors can help you navigate difficult parenting dilemmas. You can find the number for Parentline in your area here.

We really appreciate the strength it took to share here, and want to encourage you to keep sharing, if you feel comfortable to. We hope you're able to be kind to yourself through this. This community is here for you, whenever you want to share. 

Kind regards, 

Sophie M

[Bits12]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your daughter. Make sure you look after yourself while you look after her. I’m in the middle of a crisis with my own daughter and it’s so hard. Just writing in here has helped me enormously.

Does the school have a plan in place for her when she gets anxious in the classroom? My daughter’s school uses “Take 5” passes which allow students who have them (they are allocated by the school counsellor/well being team) to just show their teacher, and they are allowed to step outside for 5 minutes, no questions asked, to self-regulate. Just knowing that she has that get-out-of-jail-free card in her pocket has helped because she doesn’t have to explain herself every time she needs to decompress.

As for your own injury, I’m on firmer ground. I manage work injury claims for a living. I’m not medically trained, so disclaimer time. But I do know that a fracture takes on average 8-12 weeks to heal. Sometimes longer. (I spent 16 weeks in a moon-boot for an ankle fracture a couple of years ago - everyone is different). You are still in recovery.

If your doctor rules out anything mechanical (like an unhealed fracture, or bone chip) I would suggest seeing a physio for your foot. I know money is an issue, but you might not need to see them for more than one or two visits. They can provide you with home exercises that may help.

Something that my physio recommended to me to regain movement and mobility was to sit comfortably and “write” the alphabet in mid-air with my foot. Small and capital letters. This puts your foot through every plane of movement and loosens up tightness.

It sounds like you are overwhelmed and that’s not surprising. I try to just get through the next hour, or half an hour, or even 5 minutes.

This was painted on the wall of the emergency room at the children’s hospital, and it has helped me to focus on finding the good things, no matter how small, when I’m in the middle of the horrible things:

When it rains, look for rainbows. When it is dark, look for stars.

[Summerinvincible]

Hi Bits12

Thank you so much for replying!

I felt a lot better after reading your response especially since you’ve had a fracture yourself and know how stressful it can be. No one seems to understand which has been frustrating.

My third metatarsal and cuboid bones broke and were undisplaced (bones in place) so I was told 6-8 weeks in a boot. I guess that set up my expectations that I would be ok by now. The orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital was super casual about it when I saw him 2 weeks ago because the fracture had healed and was not severe to begin with - “not very exciting” in his words. I was told to get back to normal over the next 1-2 weeks. He completely ignored the swelling so I thought that meant it would be gone by then.

My GP said there’s a joke about orthopaedic surgeons- the patient’s heart has stopped beating but the OP just keeps saying “but the fracture is healed”…. That’s all they care about! This was certainly true in my case.

Like you suggested, my GP has referred me to a physio. I have very basic extras cover (just dental, ambulance and physio) so now is the time to use it. I have my first appointment tomorrow and another one Tuesday. My GP recommended 2-3 sessions a week but also said to be guided by the physio.

When you were wearing the moon boot, did you ever feel shooting electric shocks in your heel sometimes? The first couple of steps I take every day are like that and it scares me. They’re really sharp and jolting but just the first couple of steps, after that it’s fine and I can walk ok. The doctor didn’t really know what it could be.

I really like the quote you mentioned:
When it rains, look for rainbows. When it is dark, look for stars. Thank you for that.

My daughter also had a better day today. Her teachers have a whole bunch of strategies devised by the school psychologist (including a take 5) but the problem is she gets so overwhelmed that nothing works. She can’t speak at all and just collapses. However she did so well today - she left a few questions unfinished and didn’t panic. I’m very proud of her.

Thank you for your support, it means a lot.

[Bits12]

Glad I could help 🙂

Also glad that your girl had a better day!

Another thing with your foot is to remember that the force needed to break a bone also does significant soft tissue damage to ligaments and tendons. These also need to heal and this can take time too. The blood supply in that area isn’t fantastic and your foot takes a lot of force through it.

I felt very vulnerable when the boot finally came off - I was hyper-vigilant about people walking too close and got really edgy if I didn’t have enough personal space. I found an elastic support that I wore for weeks just to feel protected.

The sharp pain in your heel sounds like a condition called plantar fasciitis. There is a thin ligament running under your foot that connects your heel to the front of the foot. It can become irritated and inflamed. This could be because of your injury, or it could just be a coincidence. The pain you describe when you first walk in the morning is absolutely typical. Your physio can help with this condition too. Something you can do at home to help is to sit down, put a tennis ball under the arch of your foot, and roll your foot around on it to massage the bottom of your foot. Check with your physio whether it is safe to do this though - you don’t want to do any damage to your other injury if it isn’t healed yet.

Good luck!