Emetophobia and Travel
Since the pandemic many people have felt excited to travel again, but for people with emetophobia (a fear of being ill) going on holiday can be a difficult experience for fear of getting sick while abroad.
When you have a fear of being sick or other people being sick, going on holiday can be a really nerve-wracking experience. Anything from being a passenger in a car for half and hour, to boats, a fear of flying and everything in between can be a problem as you may fear getting ill on long journeys or new environments.
If they have to travel, people with emetophobia often rely on a safety net of travel sickness tablets, travel sickness bands, mints or sedatives to take with them and get them through (even if they’ve never actually been travel sick).
Travelling abroad is often a huge issue for emetophobes. What to most are relaxing getaways are often far from relaxing as they have to get used to new environments without their usual home comforts, away from their safe foods and where there are plenty of potential ‘risks’ to face while they’re away. For example you often you can’t avoid going on different methods of transport to get around. Other ‘risks’ can include: different food and water, crowds in public places, overexposure to the sun, insects and people drinking alcohol. People with a fear of being sick may check travel or public health websites before they go away to see the risks in different destinations, which gives the feeling of being more prepared and in control of the situation, but often leads to lots of anticipatory anxiety. Their fear may lead them to have anxiety and panic attacks while abroad, or even avoid flying or going away completely, which can lead to stress for other family members or those with them.
How Anxiety around Sick Impacts Travel
- Fear of public transport
- Fear of being ‘trapped’ and only feeling calm when you’re at the station and not moving
- Needing to sit near a bathroom or door
- Fear of getting sick in public
- Fear of seeing other people throw up
- Unable to travel in cars for very long
- Flying
- Unable to go on boats
- Needing to take anti-sickness tablets, mints or sedatives
- Fear of going on vacation
- Not having your home comforts
- Not feeling in control of your environment
- Eating different foods
- Drinking different water
- Being somewhere with poorer sanitisation
- Being around groups of people
- Going somewhere that doesn’t have your ‘safe’ foods
- Fear of getting panic attacks and not being somewhere ‘safe’
Coping Before and During Travelling
If you’re traveling with an emetophobia sufferer, it’s good to be aware of all these different roadblocks which they can feel anxious about before you go away. Often, instead of eating out, people with emetophobia will prefer to stick to ‘safe’ foods which they’d eat at home. They might avoid crowds and need certain things to feel secure (like their own private space rather than sharing a room with others). There are often no-go destinations for emetophobia sufferers3: countries with lower sanitisation; tap water you can’t drink which food can sometimes be washed in; or where the diet is predominantly meat or fish.
Importantly though, there’s an exciting world out there and you deserve to travel it too! We have quite a few stories from ex-emetophobes or their families who felt frustrated that emetophobia held them back from being able to travel. For example Jenni from Thailand wanted to see her family in the UK, which she was finally able to do after beating her phobia and overcome her fear of flying. Ben’s family were finally able to take him and his siblings abroad for an anxiety-free family holiday, 13-year-old Alice could get rid of her travel sickness bands, and Joe could finally get on a plane to go on holiday with friends.
The Programme to Help People With Vomit Anxiety
The Cure Your Emetophobia and Thrive Workbook is a six-part training programme to help people with emetophobia overcome their anxiety around vomiting. It is a step-by-step immersive programme providing psychological insights, skills and daily exercises to help people overcome emetophobia without the need for exposure therapy. Visit our shop get your copy of the book.
They couldn’t travel before – look at them now!
