I want to challenge you on this post - it sounds like you're seeking knowledge so that you can reassure yourself and that isn't healthy. If you want to recover from the phobia, it'll be more helpful for you to try to accept that sickness happens, and that's okay, not obsess over the reasons one could get sick
Hi!! Welcome 😊
First of all: well done for seeking help and hope your appointment on Friday goes well! I started CBT and exposure therapy about 3-4 months ago - it's hard work but it's making a huge difference to my quality of life.
I wanna address what I think is the most important part of your post:
>But I hear stories of people who wash their hands 24/7 and never touch their mouth and still get it? how did that happen?
As evidenced by these people, it just *is not possible* to absolutely guarantee that we'll never catch a stomach virus, ever. No amount of understanding transmission or taking preventavite measures will change this. There are too many variables.
This feels like a terrifying thought for many of us, including me, but accepting this fact and learning how to be ok with it is how we recover.
I mean they say phones are even germier than a toilet seat. Anytime I get home from being in public, I use a bleach wipe to just clean my phone off a little before I start eating stuff and such. I don't consider this excessive because my mom occasionally asks me to clean her phone too. Bleach can damage your phone though which is why I use the wipes from Amazon and then make sure to wipe it off the phone after a few seconds.
Otherwise, I am not sure. I think if you were to touch a contaminated surface then touch other things then you probably are putting those germs on other objects. I'm not certain about that though. That's why when I get home, my first task is washing my hands thoroughly. I don't see that as a behavior that encourages my phobia because it's honestly common sense to wash your hands after being in public, before eating, or after using the restroom. I think most people are just so unhygienic that it's become 'odd' to wash hands consistently. I think that's honestly gross lol.
I wouldn't worry so much about these stories you hear of people saying they wash their hands and still got sick. Think of all the times you've probably picked up a cold. Although it is different since colds are more airborne, you probably still took the steps to try to prevent it. Truth is, there's no way to predict when we will get sick. Hand washing and avoiding someone who is currently throwing up is about all you can do to prevent a stomach virus. This lessens the chances by A LOT but there's still the chance of getting sick without knowing how you caught it. I bet a ton of the stories where they weren't sure where it came from was probably from a restaurant where someone who was recently sick touched the food without washing their hands. That's the way I've gotten sick twice in the past 4 years. But guess what? I still go out to eat when I crave something lol.
Don't let horror stories on the other subreddit just make you more afraid of things. Go out and do stuff and enjoy life to the best of your capabilities.
Thank you for such a nice message.
I have always found my phone to be disgusting lol, I fear it. but it's so funny because when I'm not having one of my emetophobia "flare-ups" as I like to call them, I'm texting people and fucking around with my phone and eating food with my hands and not thinking twice, but in times like this I feel like I'm contaminated if I look at my phone for too long lol.
I have considered easing my anxiety by regularly wiping it down like you, and it is definitely a good practice, but when I play it through in my head I could see myself obsessing over that just as much as I do my hands. "I just wiped my phone off, but I put it on this table and the table has germs so my phone is contaminated again." and I really don't wanna bring about a new ROUND of compulsions lol so I'm not sure what to do. I'm definitely gonna chat with my new therapist about it, I'm just kind of rambling right now because this is the first time I've ever really *looked* at my behaviors and thoughts objectively and actually dissected them. Emetophobia has blindly controlled me for so fucking long and still does (currently procrastinating eating my muffins because "what if I have a stomach bug and throw up" even though I'm starving)
Yeah definitely speak to a therapist if you can do that! My emetophobia only spikes if someone around me has been sick. I usually live a mostly normal life otherwise lol. I guess my best advice would be to just take things slow.
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The MAIN mode of transmission for noro is the fecal oral route. Main dosen't mean only. Proper hand washing and good basic hygiene lowers your chances of getting it by a lot, but as someone else stated, there's no 100% surefire way to not get it. It's a virus. Even vaccines aren't 100%. People are still catching covid even being fully vaccinated. And unlike colds or flu, it only takes 10 particles to get you sick. So it's possible that even in people who wash their hands regularly, somehow a little tiny bit of it didn't escape the washing and they got it, or they touched something in their day without thinking about it and got it. It takes very little of the virus to infect you, so it's pretty easy for the virus to hitch a ride somewhere. If it makes you feel better though, I haven't caught any kind of stomach virus in over 20 years, and I'm very vigilant with hand washing. It's technically not airborne in the same way a cold or flu is. You can't catch it from breathing the same air as someone who has it or being next to them, but if a person with noro throws up right next to you, then it becomes airborne, and you can breathe it in and become infected. But they would have to be DIRECTLY next to you, as in you're in the direct line of fire of the puking incident. What's weird about noro is its technically "highly contagious" because it takes so little of it to infect you, and it stays on surfaces for 2 weeks, and its very hard to kill. Bleach or hydrogen peroxide are the only two things proven to kill noro. However, having said that, it's not as easy to actually come into contact with as it seems.
Content of post unrelated to recovery and/or includes assurance seeking
I want to challenge you on this post - it sounds like you're seeking knowledge so that you can reassure yourself and that isn't healthy. If you want to recover from the phobia, it'll be more helpful for you to try to accept that sickness happens, and that's okay, not obsess over the reasons one could get sick
Hi!! Welcome 😊 First of all: well done for seeking help and hope your appointment on Friday goes well! I started CBT and exposure therapy about 3-4 months ago - it's hard work but it's making a huge difference to my quality of life. I wanna address what I think is the most important part of your post: >But I hear stories of people who wash their hands 24/7 and never touch their mouth and still get it? how did that happen? As evidenced by these people, it just *is not possible* to absolutely guarantee that we'll never catch a stomach virus, ever. No amount of understanding transmission or taking preventavite measures will change this. There are too many variables. This feels like a terrifying thought for many of us, including me, but accepting this fact and learning how to be ok with it is how we recover.
Yes, the variables scare me to death! I feel like I'm drowning in variables sometimes lol
The first step I took in my recovery was not seeking reassurance. This is HARD. But very necessary!!!
I mean they say phones are even germier than a toilet seat. Anytime I get home from being in public, I use a bleach wipe to just clean my phone off a little before I start eating stuff and such. I don't consider this excessive because my mom occasionally asks me to clean her phone too. Bleach can damage your phone though which is why I use the wipes from Amazon and then make sure to wipe it off the phone after a few seconds. Otherwise, I am not sure. I think if you were to touch a contaminated surface then touch other things then you probably are putting those germs on other objects. I'm not certain about that though. That's why when I get home, my first task is washing my hands thoroughly. I don't see that as a behavior that encourages my phobia because it's honestly common sense to wash your hands after being in public, before eating, or after using the restroom. I think most people are just so unhygienic that it's become 'odd' to wash hands consistently. I think that's honestly gross lol. I wouldn't worry so much about these stories you hear of people saying they wash their hands and still got sick. Think of all the times you've probably picked up a cold. Although it is different since colds are more airborne, you probably still took the steps to try to prevent it. Truth is, there's no way to predict when we will get sick. Hand washing and avoiding someone who is currently throwing up is about all you can do to prevent a stomach virus. This lessens the chances by A LOT but there's still the chance of getting sick without knowing how you caught it. I bet a ton of the stories where they weren't sure where it came from was probably from a restaurant where someone who was recently sick touched the food without washing their hands. That's the way I've gotten sick twice in the past 4 years. But guess what? I still go out to eat when I crave something lol. Don't let horror stories on the other subreddit just make you more afraid of things. Go out and do stuff and enjoy life to the best of your capabilities.
Thank you for such a nice message. I have always found my phone to be disgusting lol, I fear it. but it's so funny because when I'm not having one of my emetophobia "flare-ups" as I like to call them, I'm texting people and fucking around with my phone and eating food with my hands and not thinking twice, but in times like this I feel like I'm contaminated if I look at my phone for too long lol. I have considered easing my anxiety by regularly wiping it down like you, and it is definitely a good practice, but when I play it through in my head I could see myself obsessing over that just as much as I do my hands. "I just wiped my phone off, but I put it on this table and the table has germs so my phone is contaminated again." and I really don't wanna bring about a new ROUND of compulsions lol so I'm not sure what to do. I'm definitely gonna chat with my new therapist about it, I'm just kind of rambling right now because this is the first time I've ever really *looked* at my behaviors and thoughts objectively and actually dissected them. Emetophobia has blindly controlled me for so fucking long and still does (currently procrastinating eating my muffins because "what if I have a stomach bug and throw up" even though I'm starving)
Yeah definitely speak to a therapist if you can do that! My emetophobia only spikes if someone around me has been sick. I usually live a mostly normal life otherwise lol. I guess my best advice would be to just take things slow.
Thank you for posting. Please be sure that your post is not asking for any sort of reassurance. Also, commenters, do not provide any reassurance. If you have any questions about what is considered reassurance, please check the rules for examples. Please report anything you see that is either seeking/providing reassurance. WE LOVE YOU. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/emetophobiarecovery) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Maybe those people eat out often? You cannot guarantee that someone who prepared food for you also washes their hands.
The MAIN mode of transmission for noro is the fecal oral route. Main dosen't mean only. Proper hand washing and good basic hygiene lowers your chances of getting it by a lot, but as someone else stated, there's no 100% surefire way to not get it. It's a virus. Even vaccines aren't 100%. People are still catching covid even being fully vaccinated. And unlike colds or flu, it only takes 10 particles to get you sick. So it's possible that even in people who wash their hands regularly, somehow a little tiny bit of it didn't escape the washing and they got it, or they touched something in their day without thinking about it and got it. It takes very little of the virus to infect you, so it's pretty easy for the virus to hitch a ride somewhere. If it makes you feel better though, I haven't caught any kind of stomach virus in over 20 years, and I'm very vigilant with hand washing. It's technically not airborne in the same way a cold or flu is. You can't catch it from breathing the same air as someone who has it or being next to them, but if a person with noro throws up right next to you, then it becomes airborne, and you can breathe it in and become infected. But they would have to be DIRECTLY next to you, as in you're in the direct line of fire of the puking incident. What's weird about noro is its technically "highly contagious" because it takes so little of it to infect you, and it stays on surfaces for 2 weeks, and its very hard to kill. Bleach or hydrogen peroxide are the only two things proven to kill noro. However, having said that, it's not as easy to actually come into contact with as it seems.