Podcast : Common hurdles overcoming Emetophobia

Emetophobia can be successfully treated - and overcome - with the help of the Thrive Programme. It’s a straightforward, simple programme to follow, but it does require hard work and dedication to achieve. It’s so simple, in fact, that everything you need to do to overcome your phobia is in the first few chapters of the manual - and there’s no exposure therapy involved.

Nevertheless, you may face hurdles along the way, and that’s absolutely fine. Hurdles are a normal - and expected - part of working towards any goal.

This podcast will help you understand what hurdles you may face, and how you can overcome them, so small ripples don’t turn into huge waves.

Hurdle 1: Feelings of learned helplessness and powerlessness

Emetophobes often feel helpless and powerless when it comes to their phobia, despite being successful and powerful in other areas of their lives. They may have tried numerous methods to overcome their fear without success, leading them to believe that nothing can be done. This sense of hopelessness can make it challenging to put in the necessary effort and believe in the possibility of success.

To overcome this, we suggest watching some of the testimonials before you start - particularly the more severe ones where they talk about how much hard work they put in and how much they struggled with the phobia, such as Mary and Livvy. Understanding why it’s going to work, and believing it will, will put you in a much more comfortable, powerful position before you start. Rob also suggests watching the P.A.C.E. video.

Hurdle 2: Co-morbid symptoms

Many people have other issues going on in their lives - they may have been diagnosed with anorexia, a gagging disorder, or recognised disabilities like ADHD or autism that could affect how easily information is processed. We’ve helped thousands of people over the years - we’ve seen it all! - and we want to reassure you that it’s still very possible to overcome your phobia in spite of what other symptoms you’ve got.

The programme is all about giving you an insight into your mind and how you’ve ended up with a phobia of vomit. You’re going to have lots of ‘a-ha!’ moments. If you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, you’ve no doubt spent hours learning everything you can about ADHD and why you have it, so why not take the same approach with your emetophobia?

We’ve created several different variations of the programme to help you adapt it to your specific needs. Some variations - such as the Adult Enhanced Programme - contain more explainer videos, some - such as the Adult Programme - mainly involve reading, and there’s also the option of seeing a Thrive Programme Coach ® if you feel it helps to speak to someone face to face.

Hurdle 3: Perfectionism

People with emetophobia are also perfectionists. Often perfectionism is worn as a badge of pride, but it can be a huge hindrance to progress when overcoming Emetophobia. Some individuals put too much pressure on themselves to do everything perfectly, making it harder to make progress - any minor blip is seen as a huge problem and a reason they’ll never overcome their fear. It's important to understand that you only need to go through the programme doing ‘averagely well’ to beat this. Perfection kills momentum - progress is the opposite of perfection.

Hurdle 4: Fear of failure

Related to perfectionism is a fear of failure. Often people don’t even try because they can’t tolerate the feelings of not doing something perfectly. They look for the first reason the programme hasn’t worked for them and give up, instead of recognising all the improvements they’ve made and how it’s been successful.

Hurdle 5: Blips

It's common to experience setbacks or "blips" when overcoming Emetophobia. A blip can go from a tiny dip in the road to a huge sinkhole if you don’t gain perspective (i.e. perfectionist thinking: ‘I’ve failed, this is hopeless, I’m useless). Blips are temporary, and the way out is always the same: regaining perspective, reminding yourself of the progress you’ve made so far, and seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Individuals with Emetophobia may fear that they will not succeed in overcoming their phobia, which can lead to a lack of motivation and a tendency to look for reasons why they will fail. It's important to focus on the reasons why the program will work and to look at success stories to help overcome this fear.

Hurdle 6: Focussing too much on overcoming emetophobia and not on thriving

This may seem silly - the programme is all about overcoming emetophobia right? Well, actually, we only created the programme so people with this fear recognised there was a way they could beat it. We used to treat emetophobes with the main Thrive Programme manual, and it was just as effective, because overcoming emetophobia is all about building strong mental health foundations and coping skills. This is all in the first few chapters - don’t move on to chapter 2 until you really understand chapter 1. Don’t move on to chapter 3 until you really understand chapter 2. Take control of your mind and everything else will follow.

Emetophobia doesn’t happen in isolation. You need to be building your coping skills and learning to tolerate discomfort in all areas of your life. If you’re afraid of public speaking, why not take a course in it? If you’ve always wanted to try singing, why not join a singing group?

Hurdle 7: Not working on the important bits

We receive messages from emetophobes saying they are working hard, but they’re not improving, and it’s always because they’re not working hard in the right areas. They may spend 3 hours a day reading the manual, writing notes, adding post-it notes, organising and colour-coding everything, which is great, but it’s futile if they’re not actually leaving the house and doing the programme!

Hurdle 8: Believing the phobia is happening 'to’ you

You need to understand your phobia is not happening TO you. It’s not vomit that’s causing the phobia, it’s how you react to it. Once you really understand this, everything will be easier - here’s a helpful article to explain this.

Conclusion

Overcoming Emetophobia is a journey that comes with unique challenges. Understanding and being prepared for these hurdles can help you stay motivated and make progress towards overcoming your phobia. Whether it takes you 6 weeks or 6 years to beat this, once you understand how simple and predictable it is, you’ll be well on your way to regaining control of your life and thriving. With dedication and effort, it is possible to overcome Emetophobia and live a fulfilling life.