Why are we SO disgusted by vomit?

Easily grossed out? Sensitive to smells? Feel an ‘ick’ about a lot of things? In this week’s episode, Rob and Joe discuss the significant role disgust propensity plays in Emetophobia.

Most people don’t like touching dirt, grime, mud and mould — unplugging drains, cleaning toilets, taking the bins out — but emetophobes have an extreme aversion to this sort of thing, known as ‘high disgust propensity’. This is when you have an exceptionally intense, often visceral, response to anything ‘disgusting’, which far exceeds the average person’s reaction.

This is particularly apparent around bodily functions and vomit: an emetophobe’s emotional and physical repulsion is overwhelming — they feel nauseous even to look at, talk about, or think about vomit.

Dissecting disgust propensity

Disgust propensity relates to how strong your disgust reaction (and aversion) is in relation to everyday situations and experiences. Having a high propensity for feelings of disgust is a major contributing factor to the creation of emetophobia. Your propensity to create feelings of disgust is a ‘normal’, conditioned (learned) behaviour, much like brooding or social anxiety.

Disgust propensity in emetophobes often manifests in an aversion to external bodily functions: not just vomit, but sweat and blood. But this externalisation is essentially a massive projection of guilt, shame and disgust they feel towards themselves. In essence, a feeling of self-loathing and self-contempt.

Perfectionism, self-contempt and Emetophobia

Research has revealed a strong correlation between disgust propensity, self-contempt, perfectionism, and social anxiety — common traits shared by all emetophobes. Perfectionism is basically the individual running away from uncomfortable, negative, intolerable feelings. If you pursue impossibly high standards you’ll never have to confront your deep-down feelings of not being good enough or clever enough.

Your self-worth hinges on external validation and achievements, leading to a constant feeling of worthlessness. Emetophobes, driven by self-loathing, struggle to recognise and appreciate small positive moments, always seeking extraordinary accomplishments to validate their existence, which only leads to further self-loathing and a tighter, perfectionist need to appear clean, tidy and in control of bodily functions.

Why it’s important to normalise bodily functions

Normalising bodily functions will really help you in your journey to confronting and conquering your emetophobia. Exposure to things that elicit disgust — such as picking soggy food out of the plug in the sink, picking up dog mess or taking smelly bins out — can help you tolerate discomfort, normalise ‘disgusting things’ and calm your emotional reactions down.

However, it’s important to remember the key cause of external disgust: self-contempt. The antidote to self-contempt is to build high, stable self-esteem. Not because someone called you attractive or liked your picture, but because you believe in yourself that you are valid. Focus on learning to tolerate things you have a strong disgust reaction to, and build your self-esteem and social confidence. You’ll soon be well on your way to conquering your fears.

This episode featured discussion between Joe Manuel and Rob Kelly.