Alice’s story – 13 year old with Emetophobia
Alice’s story – 13 year old with Emetophobia. During Children’s Mental Health Week 2021 we will be sharing stories about children who have beaten emetophobia with The Thrive Programme. This is 13-year-old Alice’s story. If your child is suffering from emetophobia, find out what to do here.
Alice was the well-deserved winner of ‘Young Thriver of the Year’ in our Thriver of the Year 2020 competition. This is her mum’s submission, detailing her daughter’s journey to beat emetophobia.
“Alice has had a very tough few years where I watched emetophobia and anxiety destroy the life from my once energetic and happy child. A fear and obsession of being sick dominated her life for 2 years. It was devastating to see her so unhappy and helpless.
The phobia took over everything and Alice was unable to enjoy any aspect of her life. She wore travel sickness bands 24/7 and begged me for travel sickness pills every day. Situations that she deemed dangerous were avoided and this included attending school.
Alice was desperate to attend school and see her friends but she just found it too difficult. At her lowest point she was housebound and having several panic attacks every day. We tried all the usual routes to help her, taking her for CBT, attending CAMHS and consulting our GP. Nothing seemed to help and Alice was becoming more despondent.
I discovered The Thrive Programme and we started to have regular sessions with Thrive Programme Coach, Kat. I was inspired at how committed Alice was thriving and could see positive results straight away. Every week she challenged herself more and I could see her confidence starting to grow.
Fast forward a few months and Alice is a different child. Delighted to say that she is back at school full time, playing sports, shopping with friends, using public transport, eating out at restaurants, going to the cinema and sleeping well at night. Alice has taken control of her life and at 13 years old has shown a resilience and tenacity that I can only wish to have one day. Alice is an inspiration to others and has proved that you really can make positive changes to your mental health and thrive.”
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Alice’s story – 13 year old with Emetophobia written by The Thrive Programme Team