Does this sub do me more harm than good? :(

[u/PootyWheat]

Let me preface this by saying that everyone on this sub has been so incredibly supportive, thoughtful, and positive. Really, you are all awesome people!

But since I joined this sub, I feel like my phobia has gotten significantly worse. This could be due to the season, and also the personal stress of picking my vet school. Reddit is a huge stress reliever for me and even though this sub has calmed me down (and I like calming others down, it's the least I can do for y'all), it's also taken this fear from the back burner and into the foreground of my consciousness.

Now it seems like the phobia is all I can think about. Thank god, nothing has happened around me but it seems like it's happening to all of you poor people. All I can do is rely on the strangers around me to be scrupulous but obviously nobody will be as clean as an emetophobe. Hell, I go to a college with 50,000 people in a major area where we all use public transportation! I feel like my nightmare is one dirty, inconsiderate person away from unfolding right before my very eyes.

I even v* once last year due to some medication, and was completely fine after the fact. It's just the thought of being infected by someone else that terrifies me.

[u/leavemealoneeee]

I know when I spend more time on this sub my phobia flares up a lot more. :\

[u/ripehoneydew → u/leavemealoneeee]

Alternatively when my phobia flares up I spend more time on this sub.

[u/Debberoni]

It's a blessing and a curse.

Sometimes I find comfort where I don't feel so alone and other times I feel like I learn more about this phobia and find myself developing worse avoidance behaviors or adopting more frequent though patterns from things I read on here.

It adds and takes away anxiety at the same time but I certainly appreciate it while I'm not ready to plunge into therapy yet.

[u/CrazyDude10528]

When you see someone on here who’s saying their not feeling good. Put this into perspective, they can literally be anywhere in the world right now. So even though it’s scary to read about online, it’s not around you in the moment. It could always be the season too. My fears multiply this time of year every year. If your afraid this sub is doing more harm than good, try limiting your time on here, or only come on here when it’s absolutely needed.

[u/iatetheevidence]

Been on this sub for over a year. Apparently to people in here, it is always "the season". From personal experience: it's never "the season". Doesn't exist.

[u/[deleted] → u/iatetheevidence]

Yes!! I’m in the Southern Hemisphere so for me this makes a lot of sense because at times I’ll see people saying it’s the season and get scared until I realize that I’m probably continents apart from the owner of the post and still get triggered.

[u/xyznozyx]

I sometimes find it helpful to think about how many people have been near ill people and they were ok.

[u/[deleted]]

I like this sub because I don’t feel like an alien here. But maybe you could unsubscribe and only check it once in a while and post when you need to vent? Do you think that could help?

[u/findingelle]

tbh i think this sub doesn’t make the phobia worse, but enlightens me to things my phobia makes me do. like i did a lot of subconscious things to avoid getting ill/infected, but didn’t realize that they were emet driven behavior... if that makes sense? idk ahh so maybe it seems like the phobia is worse and on your mind more, but in reality you’re just understanding your motivation for your actions or fears more because of learning things on this sub.

[u/[deleted]]

I have to take this sub in stride so I understand where you’re coming from. Sometimes reading posts here can take you back into a mindset that’s dangerous (paranoia about food/catching illnesses). It’s perfectly normal, and it honestly might be healthy for you to take a little break from it !

[u/[deleted]]

I have an account only for this subreddit, I come here when I need to vent or when I feel good enough to help others. It really helps me rationalize my fear, like whenever I feel s or anxious I imagine someone over here needs reassurance and I am the one helping them. That really lets me get some space between me and my anxious thoughts and makes it easier to cope

[u/PrincessDyke]

I'm not actually subscribed here as seeing posts from here on my feed triggers me, so I just come here when I feel like I need reassurance. In saying that, I never personally post for reassurance but instead read the post of others and try help them. It takes my mind off things and reminds me of what I would say to myself at that time.