Since I was around 12 years old, I have been suffering from anxiety. I have been anxious about vomiting (I know everyone hates it, but I have been profoundly anxious). From when I was 12 years old to around 13 years old, I was completely isolated at home, because I was afraid of becoming sick. I was at home indoors all day. I could not even go outside in the garden without crying, and even when I was inside, I was scared and cried a lot. I did everything to avoid getting sick (To avoid vomiting). I washed my hands compulsively, refused to eat food from restaurants, and practically grilled my mother with questions about how she prepared the food, to make sure she remembered all safety regulations. I would refuse to eat any food if: It had been frozen, if there were less than 2 days to the expiration date, if no one knew when an item was opened, and surely many other criteria I do not remember. I also refused to eat anything that anyone else had touched, but that was not a problem for my siblings because it meant they just had to touch the candy to get it for themselves… Anyways… Besides that, it has been a very big problem for my entire family because everything we could do as a family (vacations, dinner, and so on) was ruined by my anxiety. Luckily, they have always been very supportive of me, but I have always felt bad because I felt like I ruined my family, because I could not handle doing anything. We could not go on vacation, we could not eat out, and we could not go anywhere without the big risk of me suddenly getting an anxiety attack. My mother had to go part-time on her job, just to take care of me at home. All in all, I was a mouthful. But over the last 9 years I have slowly been improving, and today I finally stuck a finger down my throat to try to throw up, because I felt nauseous. Nothing came up, but just the fact that I actually have come so far, that I could actually purposefully try to vomit makes me so happy. I feel so proud and strong because I have come so far.  I still have a long way to be free from anxiety but this is a huge milestone for me. 

Note: Several doctors and phycologists throughout the years have recommended purposefully trying to vomit or actually vomit. Do not do it unless your doctor has recommended this treatment!