A recovery story
Mary’s story: seventy-five years, then ten weeks
Mary had emetophobia from the age of six. She worked through the manual in her eighties and came out the other side of it. Her story is the clearest proof of one of the programme’s core principles: it is not about the past.
What the phobia cost her
Mary decided not to have children because of it. She gave up a career in teaching that she loved. Twice she refused cancer treatment that had been advised, because it might make her sick — she would sooner have died than face being ill.
Seventy-five years of that, from six to eighty-one.
What she did about it
She worked through the Emetophobia-Free manual on her own first, then had a few sessions with a licensed coach. What changed things was understanding what she was doing to produce the phobia and how she was keeping it going — and then putting the effort in, every day, to change it.
It took about ten weeks.
Why her story matters
Because it is not about the past. How long you have had this fear does not determine whether you can get rid of it. Having it now does not mean having it forever.
If an eighty-one-year-old can end a seventy-five-year phobia in ten weeks, the length of time you have had yours is not the obstacle you think it is.
Mary went on to become a vocal advocate for the programme, and trained as a Thrive consultant herself. Her message has never changed: put the work in, decide you are going to learn to thrive whatever happens, and you will get there.
She tells the whole story herself on the podcast: 92-year-old Mary beat emetophobia after 75 years of suffering.
Bella Ramsey had this too.
And came out the other side.
“It’s not controlling my life anymore.”
The BAFTA-winning actor — The Worst Witch, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us — was housebound at one point as a teenager, and took travel sickness tablets and antacids to get through a working day on set. They had tried self-help books, CBT and hypnotherapy. None of it worked.
Bella went through this programme, and describes no longer thinking about sickness, no longer being frightened of it, and no longer letting it decide what they can and can’t do. They talk about all of it, openly, in their own words.
Listen to the episode →
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