# @smeharbinger on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DHCKOzvpawT
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/27260883-smeharbinger-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/dd04e6a4f5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-03-10T21:22:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Harbinger (@SMEHarbinger) — https://gondola.cc/SMEHarbinger

## Caption

*names changed to protect identity

Unlike most toddlers, then 4-year-old *Melanie Michelle didn’t need her favorite stuffed animal or a night light to go to sleep. She needed a kitchen bowl. 

Terrified she was going to throw up, Michelle set the bowl beside her bed every night without fail just in case she puked. It stayed by her side no matter where she went — around her house or to the playground — even if she didn’t even have a stomach ache.  

“I never, not once, ever threw up in the bowl I carried around,” Michelle said. “I carried those stupid bowls around because I was convinced that I was gonna have to use it at some point.”

To control her health anxiety, doctors prescribed medication for Michelle when she was 8 years old. 

Now a senior, Michelle can’t remember a time in her childhood when she didn’t have anxiety about her health taking over her thoughts. She was horrified of being around cleaners and chemicals for fear she’d ingest them. She’d skip meals, frightened of choking and frequently wash her hands to prevent sickness. 

To read more, click the link in bio.

#storybylucystephens 
#pagedesignbyaveryanderson
#coverdesignbyaddiemoore
#socialmediabyisabelbaldassaro

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## Tags

socialmediabyisabelbaldassaro, storybylucystephens, coverdesignbyaddiemoore, pagedesignbyaveryanderson

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