Emetophobia cured! Hayley wouldn't even drink water for fear of being sick, now she's 100% better

Emetophobia cured with The Thrive Programme! Hayley had suffered from emetophobia for as long as she could remember - with her condition gradually getting worse over time. This is often the case with emetophobes as they get older and encounter more things that they consider might make them ill or encounter sick, such as alcohol.

The condition had a huge negative effect on her life; she would do anything to avoid being sick or encountering vomit, including avoiding all sorts of transport, not going out with friends, choosing not to get pregnant and even not drinking water for fear of it making her ill.

Underweight, unhappy and unwell, Hayley's family urged her to seek help and she visited her doctor, who referred her to a psychiatrist for eating disorders. However, knowing she didn't have an eating disorder, Hayley instead searched online and eventually found The Thrive Programme's Cure Your Emetophobia and Thrive Workbook.

After buying the book, Haley worked through all the exercises and chapters - "I class this as my bible!" she explained. She also booked in with a licensed Thrive Programme Coach to support her in working through the book.

"I can honestly say that it's changed my life," said Hayley, who can now do all the things her emetophobia had stopped her from doing before. She even visited her ill friend in hospital and looked after her friend's baby - something she would never have done before.

"I'm completely cured of my emetophobia now - it really does work..." added now-happy Hayley, who recently went white water rafting in America! Well done on an amazing transformation.

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.

Many sufferers of emetophobia have unsuccessfully tried a range of treatments, such as CBT, exposure therapy, CRT. 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.”