Emetophobia: Going to a Bar When You are an Emetophobe

One of the hardest parts of having emetophobia is having a social life. When you have emetophobia you constantly live in fear that someone, anyone around you will vomit. So when someone with emetophobia walks into a bar a simple equation pops into their head: People + alcohol = vomit.

I hate being in bars because I know someone will drink too much. I know that I don't have control over whether or not that person will find their way out the door, or find their way to me when they start to feel ill. Not to mention all of the people that you came with, you can not possibly control how much they drink, and chances are you are the designated driver, so you have to drive in the car all the while fearing one of them will ask you to pull over.

Why is the emetophobe always the designated driver, because of what the actual decision to drink means. Deciding to drink puts you in a position where you can drink to much. Too much alcohol means that you might just get sick. I just don't drink at all, and if I do I only have one drink. I have not been drunk in years because I live in fear that I will get sick. I have been drunk before, really drunk. I am talking the kind of drunk that sends you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped drunk. Obviously, I survived it, but I learned my lesson, when the drunkenness fades and the sickness doesn't it is one big panic attack.

So what happens when an emetophobe, or an emet as I like to refer to myself as, walks into a bar. Chances are the emet has so much pent up anxiety over whether or not someone, anyone in this bar will get sick that they don't have fun. They are thinking about how much everyone around them is drinking. They can't take the edge off with alcohol, because they don't want to get sick themselves, and as I said before chances are they are the designated driver anyway. I personally count the seconds till I go home. I babysit my friends to the point that they are so annoyed that they might just burst. My husband is so sick of hearing, "do you really need another drink," or, "are you drunk?" that he just wants to scream.

In conclusion emetophobia and bars just don't mix.