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OMG. Mortifying. Possibly Flame-Worthy.
I figure this is the only board to post this story. I have a HORRIBLE reaction to seeing babies drooling. Like, full on, uncontrollable gagging. I had a customer in that was holding her kid and it was so covered in drool that I started gagging while talking to her. Luckily, I managed to keep it under control until they walked out the door, but I just ended up throwing up my ginger ale.
WOW. That was brutal. I feel bad, because a bunch of my friends are expecting right now, and I know that I will be mortified if I have a reaction like this to their kids. Sometimes I feel like something in me is broken, that I don't find babies cute at all, and that I have such a weak stomach when it comes to kids. This isn't the first time I have had a gagging fit over a drooling or jelly-covered baby. Ugh.
Re: OMG. Mortifying. Possibly Flame-Worthy.
That really sucks, especially since babies are everywhere. Your reaction is very strong. Do you have panic attacks also? If so, you might have a phobia.
This is how I feel about snakes and vomit...anyone's vomit. I haven't officially been "diagnosed," but I'm pretty sure it's a phobia. I can't handle it. I sometimes have panic attacks, feel dizzy and sick myself. It gives me anxiety just thinking about it, and I have frequent nightmares about the same topics.
I actually have an enormous phobia of sheep, complete with panic attacks. If I even stumble upon a photo of a sheep online, my heart starts pounding and I freak out, often to the point of having to shut down the computer via power button since I can't bring myself to look at the screen long enough to "X" out of the window. However, other than sheep, I've never had panic attacks.
I get really grossed out by vomit and feel sick myself, but the worst is drool. Uncontrollable gagging, every time. I'm really squeamish about it. I have a weak stomach as it is, but I'm actually more ok with blood and vomit than spit. Oh, and boiling milk. For some reason, I can smell milk being boiled three apartments over and it will bring me to my knees gagging. One time they were boiling milk in an episode of Mad Men, and I was gagging so hard that my poor husband didn't know whether to laugh or to get me puke bucket.
I guess this post makes me sound like a bigger mess than I am. Stuff like this does not come up often, and I'm alright with clean babies, but this baby literally had drool hanging of its chin.
....and now I'm gagging again typing that. Ok, end of post.
I can really relate to what you're saying about sheep (except mine is with snakes). If I see a snake somewhere I'm terrified to go back. I know it's irrational, but logic just doesn't change the fear or feeling, and I hate seeing them on TV. It's weird because the phobia is a more recent development after a stupid (read: traumatic!) incident at my last job. My former boss, who was also a mental health counselor, used to say he thought I had PTSD from it. I'm ashamed to say I'm the same way with vomit and people sometimes, but again...I believe it was from particular incidents when my mom was sick going through chemo and I was a child.
Like you, there are some things that really bother or gross me out but others that don't. It's odd but luckily my gag reflex isn't triggered easily. I can't imagine what that's like!
Anyway, this turned into a novel.
I hope your stomach starts feeling better!
I had a friend who was deathly afraid of snakes too! It's definitely possible that it's a form of PTSD, but I'm not a psychologist. At least snakes are a little more understandable, people always like to point out to me that sheep can't hurt me, but it doesn't matter lol.
I find it interesting how our minds work, and make associations with certain things, leading to such strong physical and mental reactions.
I kind of want to pin you down and slowly let drool dangle down over you..
and then spit in your bellybutton.
Strangely enough, spitting in my bellybutton would be somewhat more ok with me. The dangling... dear gawd, NO.