Let me tell you something that you may find rather amusing…In the build up to my own wedding I had a dream that my wedding was at my school and everyone kept turning up in jeans and t-shirts… In the build-up to our wedding, Katie dreamt that she turned up and I was not there… She also dreamt that the wedding car arrived and she was not ready and had to go to our wedding in her tracksuit! Bless her…
One of my close friends who gets married later this year told me she had a nightmare about running around the house in her wedding dress and it is getting dirtier and dirtier and then someone squirts soapy water in her hair!
I should not laugh, I know. What a funny bunch we are, eh?
Look what happens inside our heads when important things happen! When stressors are around! These thoughts and dreams are nothing though compared to one lady being written about in todays media…
The Daily telegraph reports in this hypnosis article:
Emma Pelling is so terrified of being sick on her wedding dress that she has enrolled with a hypnotherapist in the hope of finding the courage to walk down the aisle.
The 19-year-old suffers from “emetophobia”, an extreme fear of vomiting, and has put off her wedding to fiance Gareth Heal while she seeks treatment.
The trainee vet has suffered from the rare condition for five years, having never recovered from the embarrassment of being sick in front of her classmates at school.
“I have this recurring nightmare of being ill as a bride, running out of the church and abandoning my husband at the altar,” she said.
Miss Pelling, a trainee vet from Croydon, south London, will visit a therapist on Saturday to try to resolve the problem.
“It’s illogical and terribly hard for anyone who doesn’t suffer from this phobia to understand what happens to me,” she said.
“Most brides would be getting excited and planning everything from their dress to the flowers — but I simply can’t bear thinking about it.
“I’m grateful to Gareth for being so understanding. I love him very much but at the moment simply can’t marry him.
“I want to make it a special day for both of us. I hope the hypnotherapist can cure me so I can enjoy our special day without the fear of being ill.”
The phobia also means Miss Pelling cannot bring herself to revisit places where she has vomited, such as fairgrounds, aquariums and her local cinema.
A spokeswoman for the National Phobics’ Society said emetophobia can be hugely debilitating. Nicky Lidbetter, chief executive of the organisation said: “If people are struggling with this condition, they don’t have to feel alone.
“There are many therapies available which may help Emma including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, hypnotherapy and counselling.”
The things people do to get out of marrying, eh? Imagine having an irrational fear of being sick on our wedding dress. Where does such a fear come from? What a state that people get themselves into, eh? Emma and her fear have also featured in this hypnosis article in the Daily Mail and they have their take on the story in this hypnosis article.
I look forward to hearing about Emma’s success with hypnotherapy and hope she manages to get down the aisle without uncontrollably throwing up over herself!
Someone direct her to my homepage and show her what we have as his month’s special offer 😉
Hello! I am she lol.
Emma x
Well hello Emma! Lovely to have you here…
How is your progress?
With my best wishes, A 🙂
Hiya Emma, I think I’m a bit wierd coming back to you on this one as I am so opposite to you. Hope your wedding went okay (assuming therapy worked). The reason I say I am opposite is that I actually get a sense of relief from vomiting. I am not bulemic or anorexic or anything, it’s just I like to play with the idea of throwing up. I guess the reason I wrote is that making a mess of myself, destroying the beautiful image, is exciting and interesting. You may think I’m sad or mad, it is humiliating but even that is not terrible because you can always clean up later and become the ideal image again. I know getting married is a one off shot which is different. I guess I just wanted t ogive you another perspective. Vomiting does not kill you, it is not the end, we all survive it and move on. Take care, and enjoy married life….
Hello, I ended up not getting married in the end as I wanted to be cured first, but during the process my then partner and I split up. I had four sessions of hypnotherapy in 2008 and was cured immediately. I now don’t care if I’m sick – I don’t check sell by dates – I can be around drunk people – I finally felt normal! I still had underlying panic attacks though so I went to a different hypnotherapist in 2012 and had four sessions to cure my panic attacks and haven’t had one since. I would definitely recommend hypnotherapy. I have had Emetophobia and Anxiety since I was 8. I’m now 25 and finally feel “normal”!
Emma
Hi Emma – thanks for getting in touch and sharing that. I am delighted to read that!
Good luck going forward with your life – get in touch if I can ever be of any assistance 🙂
Best wishes, A.