Emetophobia is the Fear of Vomiting

Emetophobia is the Fear of Vomiting: Understanding Symptoms and Treatment Options

Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting/seeing others vomit.

Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting/seeing others vomit. The word derives from the ancient Greek ‘emetikos’ (to vomit).

Not many people like vomiting, but for an emetophobe it can preoccupy their thoughts, causing great distress and anxiety.

Emetophobes can feel queasy and anxious just reading the word ‘vomit’

Often, the anticipation of vomiting or seeing someone else vomit, and not knowing when it will happen, can be worse than the act itself. Recently we asked a group of emetophobes to rate how awful the last time they were sick was out of 10 – most rated it at only around a 5, and some had never actually been sick, or couldn’t remember the last time they were!

This fear of losing control is at the root of emetophobia. Often emetophobes worry about embarrassing themselves in front of others, that they may not find a bathroom in time, that they may die, go to hospital, or not be able to control how long they’re ill for. They spend a lot of time preoccupied with imagining these ‘worst case scenarios’ and subsequently generate a lot of anxiety, only intensifying the belief they couldn’t cope if they were ever ill.

What are the symptoms of emetophobia?

Some common emetophobia symptoms are:

Restrictive diet: avoiding whole food groups in case they contain toxins
Avoiding restaurants
Limiting or avoiding alcohol
Avoiding bars, clubs and pubs
Anxiety reading words such as ‘vomit’
Anxiety seeing videos of people being ill on TV or social media
Almost 24/7 ‘body-scanning’ to check for any sign of illness such as queasiness or a raised temperature (ironically, a
fixation with your body, coupled with anxiety, can create feelings of nausea. Emetophobes can become convinced they’ll be sick, even though they won’t be).
Checking others for signs of illness and keeping their distance
Obsessively checking use-by dates. Throwing food away even before it’s reached its expiration date
Restricting / avoiding travel, school, work, and social activities
Taking anti-nausea medication or stomach-settlers such as peppermint tea

How is Emetophobia treated?

Emetophobes are excellent at controlling and avoiding

We call all of these symptoms ‘control skills.’ Emetophobes are excellent at controlling or avoiding anything that could possibly expose them to vomit. A key element of therapeutic intervention is to help emetophobes reduce their ‘control skills’ by building their COPING skills.

This gently reduces their phobia, without having to expose the emetophobe to anything ‘triggering’ such as images or videos of people throwing up. As with most mental health issues, there’s no quick fix – overcoming your phobia takes hard work and persistence, but if you’re here, you’ve already taken the first step!

Conclusion

Emetophobia is the fear of throwing up or seeing others throw up. It can dominate an individual’s life and leave them feeling chronically anxious. It seems overwhelming and complex, but it is a highly treatable fear. The Thrive Programme is a simple but effective programme, created after treating thousands of emetophobes over the past 30 years. It takes hard work, but with the right tools, a new perspective, a winning mindset and some self-belief, it’s possible to overcome this fear and enjoy life again.