Name: Anthony Caputo
Age: 37
Occupation: CEO/President Enviromax Recycle LTD.
Hi Anthony, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer some of my questions.
You state on your Twitter profile that you
suffer from ‘Emetophobia’ for people that don’t know please could you explain what this is?
Emetephobia is the fear of vomit.
Either the fear of you vomiting, seeing someone else vomiting or just vomit in general.
How long have you experienced this phobia and how did it
come about? Do you remember a specific incident?
The phobia started 8 years
ago, and there was no “specific” incident that I have ever been able to link it
to myself one day I was feeling sick to my stomach and the panic set in, But
from talking to my family about it there was an incident that occurred as a
child where I was deathly ill and was vomiting uncontrollably, but I have no
recollection of that event and I do remember vomiting after that with no
problems.
Does your anxiety stem from the emetophobia?
The anxiety started long before the emetophobia did however now they are
hand in hand,I believe anxiety will almost always hide itself into a phobia and I
got stuck with emetophobia.
Why is sharing your personal experiences
regarding your phobia and anxiety important to you? Will there be anyone reading this that knows
you that is unaware of your personal experiences?
Since I have been able to open up about my
anxiety and everything that transpired during the many years of suffering I have
noticed I am more able to rationalize with myself in terms of dealing with the
anxiety. Opening up about it really started to help me in the healing process
of attacking the negative thoughts before the anxiety had a chance to and being
able to help others do the same is very important to me, I was always very
popular and I'm sure there are still people that only know me as the image I once
portrayed I was and have no idea the hardship and suffering I carried for so
many years. I agree that opening up can defiantly help with the healing process, I admire anyone who is strong enough to share their own experiences also, in order to help others.
As a male was it hard for you to speak out
about your issues? Do you think that it affects your masculinity in any way to be viewed as ‘afraid’
of something?
Its funny you ask that because people see the
shaved head and tattoos and automatically stereo type but in fact I'm completely opposite, I'm a very sensitive and
emotional guy I cry watching movies or when I will hear certain songs I get
hundreds of messages a day from people that I have helped and I cry to every
one of them so I have learnt that I don’t ever care about what people think of
me as or view me because I know I'm an amazing person and like
it or not everyone is scared of something being able to be honest about it and
deal with it will get you further than trying to be someone your not and lying
about it. It's such a shame that men think that there is shame/embaressment in this somehow, I would much rather a male be honest with himself and emotions than try and portray a fake persona.
You are a father, are your children aware of
your phobia and anxiety? How do you educate them with regards to these issues?
Is it important for you that your children have phobia free lives?
My children are still very young and don’t
really understand anxiety or phobias but I can tell you that the energy that
radiates from anxiety will have an effect on them it wasn't until I was on the path of healing
the week after my suicide date my son actually was excited to see me and ran to
me when I got home!! 3 years ago we adopted a young girl who also had
anxiety was a cutter and suicidal and has completely made a huge transition in
her life in saying that we are a very open family and talk about everything so
being able to be open and honest is the best way for my children to better understand it and only hope they can
avoid any type of phobia or anxiety because It is very important for them to
live free without anything holding them down. This is very admiral act, I am happy to hear that you and your family have had such a positive impact.
Phobias are very real to the person who is
dealing with it, but phobias such a Clourophobia – the fear of clowns can
be viewed by people as quite comical. People who don’t understand phobias can
also think they are a form of attention seeking. What would you say to someone
who had this view? And how should we be educated about phobias?
I strongly feel it is
people like that who drive the suicide rates up, BUT to end the stigma it must
start with us!! I look at it like this, having anxiety is the irrational fear
of nothing so in an attack you are going to escape and at any cost regardless
of who you hurt in the process so when people see that you look like a bad
person because most of us are too scared to come out with our feeling and I
don’t blame us if the irrational fear is something we cant understand ourselves
how can we even attempt to explain it to others?
How would your life change if you no longer
suffered from your phobia? Do you think that it has come to define you as a
person?
I have suffered for so long and I’m just now in the last
couple of years getting over my phobia and my life has changed
drastically I’m able to eat foods I never would have and I’m actually able to travel
and enjoy my life with my family! I'm pleased to hear that you are making positive progress.
Phobias can affect people’s lives daily, I
have genuinely helped people to manage and control their phobias, to the point that their life has changed, but the
common misconception is that if you are able to manage your phobia better or
are even cured completely of your phobia then people will question why you weren’t able to
be treated before, or even that you had the phobia in the first place. How
would you respond to this?
Everybody will change when
they are ready to change! The change must come from a place that is real
everyone is different and for the most part I'm the furthest
thing from a therapist but thousands of people have been following me and
watching my videos because they can relate with me and feel very comfortable
opening up to me so that has been a huge success in helping so many people.
Sometimes all it takes is for someone to genuinely care in order to help
someone change. You must be very proud that you are having such a positive impact on many, from the back of such a negative experience.
You have told me openly that you once
attempted suicide and that it changed your life. What drove you to this stage? How did it change your life? Was this before
you became a father? How did it affect those close to you?
There came a point in my life where I was
suffering from anxiety,emetophobia,agoraphobia,ocd and depression the
irritability was too much and the moods swings were breaking my heart to see my
wife and children go through it so I didn’t want them to have to suffer anymore
and I planned it out for about a month I actually was in the mental state of
death its almost like when a prisoner talks about what they go through prior to death row and the
psychological state they are in before execution well let me tell you that’s a REAL thing because I was in it, the
night I snapped out of it was literally the day before I was going to do it and I was at home with my wife and all it
took was a look from her and I felt “safe” and knew I could never do this to
her, she stood by my side for so long and fought and I was just going to give
up on all her hope that I was going to get better? No shot!! And I vowed I
would do this for her and my children. Thank you for sharing this with us.
What would you say to anyone that was
contemplating suicide themselves?
How can individuals avoid getting to this
point and how important is talking about your issues in this situation?
Life is a beautiful struggle and there is so
much hope all you need is the right person to be able to talk to because once
your able to talk and open up knowing there is no judgement or hidden agenda
you will see so much clearly.
Are you receiving professional help at all?
Do you think that it helps? Should there be more help available?
I personally have tried the professional help
route and no it did not work for me I am very strong minded and the entire time
all I could think was how does this person know what its like and what I'm going through as soon as
the session would be over they would want me on medication which I am also strongly
against the best help is from someone who has overcome it and knows all to well
what the feelings are like
Do you think that if you had received help
sooner you would not have considered taking your own life? What more can be
done in your view to help others?
I do feel the sooner you get
help the better because these mental illness will always make you come up with
excuses its almost like they trick your brain into not being ready and always
having a hold on your thoughts believe me it only gets worse try to open up and
get the help you need ASAP!!!
What advice would you give to people about pursuing their dreams and ambitions despite any issues that
they may have?
Only you can do it!! if you really
want it bad enough its there and of course it going to be hard nothing in life
that’s good comes easy.
Its your life;
Make it happen
What is your ultimate goal with regards to your work and your future
projects?
Social media is an amazing tool if used properly so
YouTube for me is my tool my videos are probably where I'm going to
continue helping people on a larger scale I have already reached out to so many
famous people and just waiting to get called on to the Ellen show!!
I thank you for your time Anthony, I wish you luck with your future.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/212322199125352/
Instagram: @anthonycaputovlogs
Twitter:
@anthonyccaputo
