Podcast : Struggling to Beat your Emetophobia? The Key is Putting in the Right Kind of Effort

Emetophobes are driven, hard-working people, but sometimes struggle when it comes to putting in the right amount of effort - often focussing too much on one area and less on areas that may hold the key to beating this fear. In this week’s podcast, Rob and Joe discuss how to put in the right kind of effort for the right amount of time.

Re-evaluate the type of effort you’re putting in

Emetophobes know that hard work pays off and tend to excel at school and work. While studying books and making notes may work well at school, you can’t overcome emetophobia just by knowing the theory inside out, you have to put that theory into practice. It may feel like you’re putting in tonnes of effort when there’s colour-coded notes scattered across the manual, but it’s futile if you don’t put what you’ve learnt into practice. The issue is, emetophobes often focus on what they can control, rather than challenging the areas where they feel wobbly. Take setting yourself a challenge (Chapter 3): it’s unpredictable, you’re entering a grey area and you’ll think of a thousand reasons not to do it. But in doing so, you’ll start to feel much more powerful and realise that you can still feel safe, even if you’re not fully in control.

Trust in the Manual

If you read and practice exactly what the manual tells you you’ll get there, so don’t skip any bits, even if they feel silly or like they don’t apply to you. This is a tried and tested method developed with constant feedback from emetophobes, so trust in the process and squeeze every bit you can out of it!

Feeling Powerful

Progress stems from feeling empowered. Once you understand how the programme works and why you have emetophobia, you’ll immediately start to feel more powerful. When you know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and how to get there, motivation will naturally follow, driving you to invest more effort.

Understand the roots of emetophobia

Emetophobia is not an inherent condition but a product of acquired beliefs, thinking patterns and low self-esteem. By addressing these underlying factors, calming negative thinking styles, and taking purposeful action, you can overcome the hurdles you face. When you know there’s things you can do to change your situation, you will immediately feel more powerful.

Check if you’re still holding on to anything

If you feel like you’re putting loads of effort in but not seeing results, you’re likely still maintaining something that’s holding you back: for example thinking in a perfectionist way or having collusive others around you. Identify if there’s anything you’re holding on to and set up ways to combat that.

Build Solid Foundations

Challenging every thought daily, trying to identify paranoia, perfectionism or obsession directs your focus toward what's wrong. Instead, establish strong foundations rooted in internal power and high self-esteem. The first 5 chapters are the foundations of Thriving and the foundations of good mental health so these should be your main focus. By channelling your energy into these, you won’t have to ‘firefight’ perfectionist or obsessive thoughts.

It’s all about Learning to Thrive

Although ‘overcoming emetophobia’ is an aim, the true goal should be ‘learning to Thrive.’ The Emetophobia manual was built upon the Thrive Programme - an essential programme developed over 25 years that helps people feel powerful in life. A ‘thriving’ person doesn’t focus on firefighting what’s wrong, they look at how they can build strong mental health. When you see Thriving as the goal, you’ll embrace the journey and won’t be caught up in overthinking.

Conclusion

Research still reveals that many doctors and therapists don’t really understand emetophobia or haven’t heard of it, often treating it in the same bracket as other phobias and not like the complex phobia it really is. Many emetophobes come to us after exhausting all treatments - treatments which can cause more harm than good when the underlying issues are not addressed, leaving them feeling powerless to beat this.

Believe you can beat this, and trust that this process has helped thousands of emetophobes before you. Feeling powerful is the essential ingredient for progress, and that comes through taking action.