Episode 12 · The Emetophobia Podcast
Why do some people take longer to overcome their emetophobia?
Everyone starts at a different point on the scale. The route is the same.
Most sufferers overcome their emetophobia in 6-8 weeks with our programme, however some can take much longer. Why is that? Are they not putting enough effort in? Are they too busy? Is there too much else going on in their lives? Are some people ‘just more complex’?
If you think about mental health and thriving on a scale of, say, 1 to 100, everyone is at a different point on that scale when they start the programme. Some people when they start are more thriving than others, and therefore less effort and time is required to make the — lesser — changes they need to make in order to get themselves completely thriving, and over their emetophobia. So if you have less work to do, it stands to reason that you’ll probably get that done before someone who has more work to do.
Also, if you have a lot of stress and pressures other than those directly related to your emetophobia as you work your way through the programme, they are going to make it harder for you to find the time and energy to devote to it, as you have other things taking up your time and resources.
“Whether you start at 80 on the scale or just 35, the programme is the same and is equally successful.”
Rob KellyPerfectionism slows everyone down
The other thing that slows things down for ALL emetophobes is their perfectionism. Trying to apply the programme ‘perfectly’, and do everything ‘just right’, makes things much harder. Perfectionists tend to be very ‘black and white’ in their thinking, which means they tend to see their progress through the programme as either ‘great’ or ‘rubbish’. If they see it as great, they tend to be on a high, feeling everything is going well. If they see it as rubbish, they are likely to keep creating major blips, doubt their ability and doubt the programme, which in turn will leave them feeling quite hopeless and powerless. You really need to keep your perfectionism in check from the first day you start.
Do not despair though: whether you start at 80 on the scale (of 1 to 100) or just 35, the programme is the same and is equally successful — you will just need to put in more work, for longer.
This episode featured discussion between Joe Manuel and Rob Kelly.