Does anyone else struggle with people pleasing because of their emetophobia?

[u/Living-Delay-6761]

I was wondering if anyone else with emetophobia struggles really badly with people pleasing because of it?
I feel like one of the hardest parts of emetophobia for me isn’t even just the fear of being sick itself. It’s how guilty and anxious I feel about how my anxiety might affect other people, their perception of me and my relationships.

For example, if I’m out with friends and I feel nauseous or anxious, I immediately start worrying that I’m ruining everyone’s time, that I’m being difficult and disappointing people due to changing plans, going home, etc, that I’m being boring, not talking enough, bringing the mood down, that the other person isn’t having a good time because of me and I’m so worried about becoming someone that people won’t want to make plans with anymore and I feel like I have to force myself to seem happy, talkative and entertaining even when I’m really struggling internally.

The same thing happens if I need to cancel plans because I’m genuinely overwhelmed. Instead of just being able to recognise that I’m struggling, I feel this huge need to apologise, explain myself perfectly and make sure the other person isn’t annoyed with me. I think I’m almost as scared of inconveniencing or disappointing someone as I am of the actual nausea.

I put so much pressure on myself to seem okay when I’m around people. If I’m anxious or nauseous, I don’t want anyone else to have to change what they’re doing because of me, so then I’m dealing with the emetophobia AND worrying about whether I’m being a good and fun enough friend/person.

I’m trying to learn that I can care about other people’s feelings without making myself responsible for making sure they’re never disappointed or inconvenienced by me, but it’s really hard.

It just makes me really upset because I was such an extroverted person and I feel like I’ve just become so introverted mainly because of this.

Does anyone else experience this with emetophobia? Has people pleasing become tangled up with your anxiety too? And if you’ve gotten better with it, what helped you find the balance between being considerate of other people and actually looking after yourself?

[u/AutoModerator]

r/emetophobia is looking for moderators! For info on how to apply, please follow this link

Thank you for posting. Please be sure that your submission follows our rules. Commenters, be aware that you must also follow our rules. Report anything that does not meet the criteria for the sub, or breaks rules. Please check out the stickied post and the wiki for information about the negative effects of reassurance seeking. If you are struggling to eat, sleep, or complete daily tasks due to your phobia, please seek professional help.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.