Emetophobia Resources Video Four

Emetophobia Resources Video Four

The video below is a support video from an emetophobia workshop, for people going through The Thrive Programme to overcome their fear of being sick/seeing others vomiting. The manual they are using is called 'Emetophobia-free' - which is available from our shop. (There is also a Emetophobia-free Teenager’s Edition for age 13-18.

The Thrive Programme's emetophobia programme was created based on evidence-based psychology and is fully backed up by scientific research into emetophobia. It is the most successful and predictable cure for emetophobia. In our own research survey, all 164 participants overcame their fear of being sick. The programme was created by Rob Kelly - a therapist with over 30 years clinical experience - who has helped thousands of people to overcome their fear of being sick, and live happy, fulfilled lives.

Rob Kelly is the creator of The Thrive Programme, and author of The Thrive Programme and the Emetophobia-free Manual - which is the only predictable way to overcome emetophobia. This series of four videos were recorded at an emetophobia workshop on how to overcome emetophobia, at the Royal Society of Medicine, in London in 2015.

To get the most from these emetophobia workshop recordings, you need to have a copy of the Cure Your Emetophobia and Thrive Workbook

For further help, view our other emetophobia support videos

What is emetophobia?

Emetophobia, the fear of vomiting, is widespread; it is one of the most common phobias for which people consult The Thrive Programme's licensed Coaches.

Research into emetophobia has suggested that prevalence of a fear of being sick ranges from 0.1 to 8.8% percent of the population (Hout & Bouman, 2011).

These different figures probably depend upon whether the researchers assessed participants for any sort of ‘fear’ of vomiting or solely focused upon a severe ‘phobia’. These prevalence figures suggest that somewhere between around 63,000 and 5.5 million people in the UK suffer from emetophobia.

Emetophobia is known by many names (emetophobia, specific phobia of vomiting (SPOV), vomit phobia, sickness phobia, fear of vomiting…) and is associated with other fears and disorders, such as phagophobia (a fear of gagging, swallowing or choking), a fear of pregnancy, social anxiety and obsessional disorders. People can fear vomiting themselves and/or others vomiting. Most individuals with emetophobia are female, with research studies revealing that 85-97% of their emetophobic participants are women (Hout & Bouman, 2011; Lipsitz et al., 2001; Veale & Lambrou, 2006).

Emetophobia tends to be a severe symptom and often significantly affects sufferers’ ability to lead normal lives. People with this fear often go to great lengths to avoid encountering anything that could lead to vomiting. They may, for example, be teetotal or heavily limit their alcohol consumption and avoid pubs or clubs where others may drink heavily and then vomit. They may worry a great deal about hygiene, and be fussy about making sure everywhere is clean. They may take excessive time off work or school because they worry about being exposed to germs that will cause them to be sick.

It is also common for emetophobes to be very careful about food preparation, taking excessive care to check use by dates and to ensure that food is cooked properly. Many sufferers avoid dining out or eating food that has been prepared by others. Tocophobia, the fear or phobia of being or becoming pregnant, is another common problem for emetophobia sufferers, mainly to the worries about the morning sickness. As a result, many avoid becoming pregnant or terminate a pregnancy. Those who do have children can become consumed by worry about them being ill. They may feel completely unable to look after their children when they are unwell.

Many sufferers of emetophobia have unsuccessfully tried a range of treatments Veale and Lambrou (2006), for example, found that twenty-nine percent of their sample of vomit phobics had received some form of therapy for their fear, which overall they rated as largely ineffective. Veale and Lambrou (2006, p. 139) have stated that “clinicians generally regard it as challenging to treat because of high drop out or a poor response to treatment.”