Emetophobia - The fear of being sick / The fear of vomiting.

Emetophobia is the fear of being sick (the fear of vomiting).

Someone suffering from Emetophobia, may fear being sick themselves, seeing (or hearing) other people being sick, may fear pregancy (because of morning sickness), avoid alcohol (because of sickness that it can cause), fear travel (because of motion sickness), may be overly fussy about cleanliness (in case germs make them sick), may avoid eating out, or certain foods (in case of food poisining)... the list goes on...

People with Emetophobia can, and often do, have their life afftected by their Emetophobia every day, simply because it can affect so many different areas of their life.

As briefly mentioned above, emetophobia can often cause the person to avoid many situations in life that many people may find enjoyable.

The Symptoms of Emetophobia

The fear of being sick can make a wide range of everyday situations very uncomfortable for the sufferer. These situations might include for example:

• Women with emetophobia might getting pregnany, due to the fear of the sickness that pregnancy can often cause
• Avoiding holidays or business trips abroad (which may involve flying), because of the possibility of feeling sick while in the aircraft
• The person might avoid certain types of food (such as spicy foods, or foods (such as chicken) that can cause food poisoning if undercooked)
• An emetophobic might avoid alcohol
• The person may feel the need to avoid the doctors surgery or hospitals, (either fearing seeing or hearing other people who might be ill or may be sick at any time, or fearing picking up a 'bug' themselves)
• The person might not be able to have pets around the house, in case the pet gets sick
• The suffer might have an obsession with cleanliness, and might avoid restaurants because the cleanliness of the kitchen cannot be guaranteed.
• Emetophobes often avoid putting themselves in any situation that has a large physical movement, such as on a boat or roller-coaster
• Someone suffering from emetophobia may panic or feel excessively anxious if someone else in their household is ill, in fear of contracting the illness themselves. In severe cases, the emetophobic may refuse to eat for the duration of the other persons illness.
• The person might avoid reading books, magazine articles, television programmes or films where they might see or read about someone being sick

What Causes Emetophobia?

Emetophobia (the fear of being sick), in common with many other phobias, is a mechanism put in place by the brain to protect us from something that (for some reason), it has mis-judged the threat of.

Let's take the example of the person suffering from Emetophobia, who might, when asked, describe being sick as like being completely 'out-of-control'.

That person may have had an experience in their past where they felt out-of-control, and their mind (having never 'resolved' the original issue) is over-protecting them from similar situations, in case something similar ever happens again.

Treating a phobia can by surprisingly simple, because all that really needs to happen, is for that 'unresolved emotion', or 'conflict', to be resolved. Once the 'unresolved emotion' is resolved, there's no longer a need for the mind to protect us (or over-protect us) from it, and the phobia can disappear.

Looking for help with Emetophobia?

It's important to remember, that if you suffer from Emetophobia, then help is available.

The LifeShaping Process

The LifeShaping Process is a superb online (web based) series of sessions created by professional therapists for you to use at home. Online sessions are very popular these days, because you can fit them around your life far more easily than travelling to a therapist for a face-to-face session.

You can get access to the full LifeShaping Process, plus access to all the online help, resources, updates and support for a full year, for less than £1 per week!!

See how the LifeShaping Process could help you change your life...

Denise, thank you for your help and understanding, my appts. with you definitely opened my eyes as to how I view my life and I realise what I have to do to make the changes.
Linda from Rutland

An ex-Emotophobia sufferer

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If you're looking for help with an anxiety based problem, then we'll do what we can to help you.

There are lots of different ways we may be able to help you to feel better... we'd love to meet you for a chat at one of our practices, or, if you're not near us, there's the LifeShaping Process which is a superb, web based process that you can use at home!

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