Men who have overcome Emetophobia...
Emetophobia predominantly affects women and girls it is estimated that the figure stand at around 85% . Without getting into the specific causes of this, this still leaves 15% of emetophobes being male. Emetophobia when you're male can really impact your life, preventing you from being able to make the most of your life and do things that you would otherwise be able to. Emetophobia can appear in different ways. You might:
• Fear other people being sick
• Fear being sick yourself
• Fear both
• Mainly fear being sick in public
As a man with emetophobia, there is often a lot of shame and embarrassment around it, and you probably feel isolated and 'different' to other men. It can be hard to explain the daily struggles and constant anxiety you're experiencing to people - maybe they've put you on the spot and challenged you about why you can't do something, or told you 'being sick isn't so bad.'
This is frustrating, but it's important to recognise your feelings are valid and this is a very real phobia.
Symptoms such as these...
- Excessive worry
- Anxiety and Panic Attacks
- OCD behaviours (constant checking)
- Low self-esteem
- Social Anxiety
- Eating difficulties (which can lead to disorders)
- Persistent feelings of nausea
- Lacking confidence
Can develop into...
- Difficulty at work
- Trouble sleeping
- Avoiding car journeys/public transport
- Self-harm
- Feeling suicidal
- Social withdrawal
- Avoidance of food/objects
- Avoidance of social gatherings
If you can relate to some of the symptoms and behaviours listed above, then you may very well be aware of the significant impact that emetophobia can wreak on not just your life (as a man) but also on the lives of your friends and family.
Emetophobia has a severe impact upon sufferers’ lives. Research studies have indicated that emetophobic individuals show impairments across many domains of their lives. Many men engage in a range of safety-seeking and avoidance behaviours in an attempt to prevent themselves from vomiting, including, for example, avoiding work, pubs and restaurants, particular forms of transport, restricting their food, maintaining very high levels of hygiene, avoiding social gatherings and keeping away from people who are ill.
These safety-seeking and avoidance behaviours, whilst despite giving emetophobes some temporary, short-term relief, will in the long run help solidify the notion/belief that sick is a terrible thing and that they cannot face it under any circumstances. Which then develops further into more severe avoidance behaviours, creating a very unhelpful cycle-of-behaviour. Unchecked, these cycles of behaviour can last a lifetime.
Nearly 20,000 people worldwide have overcome Emetophobia and their accompanying symptoms such as OCD using our unique programme. Based on clinical experience, scientific research and applied psychology, we will explain how your emetophobia was created, and how you can - safely and carefully - get rid of it completely.
Although Emetophobia and OCD are serious psychological illnesses, you should not feel disheartened. Over the past 30 years, we have successfully helped thousands upon thousands of sufferers - of all ages, from all walks of life and from all over the world - to completely overcome their phobia and take back control of their mental health.
We've created an easy-to-follow, 6-8-week, step-by-step programme that anyone can go through to overcome emetophobia completely and permanently.
The programme manual + support videos are inexpensive, easy to access and are inspiring and empowering from the very start.