Why isn’t everyone working on their phobia?

In today’s episode Rob and Joe discuss the limiting factors at play that stop a lot of emetophobes from helping themselves. So, you have Emetophobia? But you can’t bring yourself to do anything about it? Why?

Let’s talk firstly about how control — or more so, how your desire for control — impacts your ability to overcome your phobia. As you know, completely and utterly avoiding being or seeing sick is impossible. It’s this unpredictability that causes emetophobia sufferers to create such a desire to control everything around them.

You’re very careful about the food you eat, making sure it’s in date and completely cooked. Making sure that you have ginger, mints and anti-nausea tablets on you at all times in case you begin to feel nausea. Keeping as much distance as you can from that coughing child. It’s all about trying to feel more in control.

Why starting feels so hard

If we relate this desire for control to going through the programme, you can begin to see why you may want to avoid starting. It’s the fear of starting to give up some of that control that you believe has been keeping you safe for 10, 20, 30-odd years.

The second reason that often comes into play is that a lot of sufferers out there have tried many different treatments to no avail. This naturally leaves you feeling very powerless about overcoming your phobia. ‘What’s the point?’ When you believe you have tried all avenues, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe that there really is something that can allow you to overcome this phobia. It’s easier to just maintain that belief by not trying it out.

You have so much evidence in your head to suggest why you can’t overcome it and why you believe this programme won’t work, but very little evidence to say otherwise. So we need to slowly and steadily start building up the belief that ‘you know what? Maybe I can beat this thing’.

This episode featured discussion between Joe Manuel and Rob Kelly.