Children's Mental Health Week

Children’s Mental Health Week

Children’s Mental Health Week. This week (1-7 February 2021) is Children’s Mental Health Week so we’ll be sharing stories of young people who have beaten their emetophobia and learned to thrive. Emetophobia often starts in childhood, and can really take over the child’s life:

Stopping social life
Eating disorders, anorexia, ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder)
Needing parents there when they eat
Sleep difficulties
Missing school or spending a lot of time in the first aid room
Fear of objects/routines associated with the last time they were sick even if they weren’t the cause it i.e. what they wore that day, any foods they ate, the blanket or teddy bear they had, the time they went to sleep
OCD
Panic attacks
Unable to travel without anxiety
Anxious on holidays/unable to go
Unable to join in activities with other children such as going to theme parks, playing sports, going swimming etc.

Sadly mental health services often aren’t aware of emetophobia and the devastating impact it can have on children, leading to misdiagnosis or a long road to recovery. It’s extremely confusing and distressing when your child, seemingly out of nowhere, stops eating enough, starts getting panic attacks and avoids things they once enjoyed. Seeking help from trained professionals who fully understand emetophobia is essential. We have 2 options available for children with emetophobia, please visit the dedicated page here.

One of the messages of Children’s Mental Health Week 2021 is that the parents’ mental health is just as important to help both yourself and your child. This is something we firmly believe at The Thrive Programme. After 10 years of doing this have learned how beneficial it is for the parents to also go through the programme (reading the book or with a coach). This is to reinforce what the child is learning, but it also has huge positive benefits for the parents’ wellbeing.

How can I help my child with emetophobia?