Emetophobia: The Hidden Fear

Emetophobia is, quite simply, the fear of vomiting. For most people, vomiting is a natural occurrence, but some regard it as something that invokes great fear and distress. It can lead to anti-social behavior, high stress and obsessive-compulsive habits.

For most people, vomiting causes discomfort, but for the Emetophobics (or Emets), it is beyond the point of discomfort; it is a source of great anxiety. Many Emets would rather lose a limb than be sick; some say they would even rather die.

Many Emets know the cause of their fear. It is generally triggered by some event in the person's childhood. Some event happens that teaches the person to have fear or anxiety associated with vomiting. Many times it is a traumatic event, or even displeasure from a parent when the person vomits. (Parents with emetophobia often contribute to their children's fear)

There are a few behaviors that are common to nearly all Emets. They include limiting a diet (by processing foods as "safe" or "unsafe"), fear of travel, not drinking alcohol, fear of eating in public, fear of people who are ill. Some women Emets even avoid pregnancy, for fear of morning sickness.

Most Emets can count on one hand the number of times they've been sick in their entire lives. Talking about it, or even thinking about it, can cause great stress. Emetophobia can cause panic attacks, and can make someone crave social isolation as the fear takes over their daily lives. In an effort to deal with the phobia, the Emet seeks to control all aspects of their life by pushing out situations that they cannot control, like being in public.

Emetophobia is not well-known., and that is due in part to those who suffer from it. Emets usually keep it secret, mostly in fear of public disapproval. Remember, for Emets it is a sense of extreme anxiety, and often embarrassment. They become skilled in coming up with excuses to avoid situations which may present their fear.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Many who have this fear don't know that there is a name for it, and they often don't realize that others suffer from the same anxiety. With the great secrecy involved in the disorder, it is not easy to determine the amount of sufferers, though one website dedicated to support for sufferers claims it is the UK's 5th biggest phobia.

There are many websites devoted to sufferers of emetophobia. To find them, all you need to do is plug the word into a search engine, but are those websites really helpful? In one sense, they give hope to sufferers by showing them that they are not alone. It also gives a great deal of information that is not commonly known, as well as resources for treatment and cures.

Yet, when a phobia becomes worse with obsession, these "support groups" may only lead to more damaging behavior. By focusing more on the fear itself (there are claims by some to have gone decades without vomiting), the phobic can often become worse, their anti-social and obsessive behavior increasing. The phobic becomes more obsessed with the fear instead of seeking to overcome it.

There are many treatments to this phobia, as there are with others. Therapy can work for some, alternative treatments for others. Either way, Emets need to learn to control their fear, or at least find a healthy way to live with it.

If you suffer from emetophobia, don't let it control your life. Life is too short to let fear take over. Remember: You are in control.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Fear of Vomiting Walks into a Public Restroom

For the average American the public bathroom is gross. For an Emetophobe it is a nightmare. Emetophobia is the fear of vomit and vomiting. It is a phobia that creeps into every aspect of your life, from taking a walk to the grocery store to going to the mall.

One of the hardest things for people to grasp about emetophobia is how much it takes over ones life. On the surface you would think being afraid of vomit and vomiting would not be an everyday problem, how often are you actually around anyone who vomits. The fact people often miss is that the threat of vomiting is the real reason everyone with emetophobia lives on edge, and in all honesty, sitting around worrying that someone will throw up at any given moment is probably worse then the panic attacks.

With Emetophobia going to a public bathroom in the mall is a difficult task. In fact I spent year avoiding going out just so I wouldn't have to use a public restroom.

When I walk into a restroom I don't see a restroom. I see a bathroom where other people have been, and those people could have been sick. What if I go to the stall and the person before me had the stomach flu. Will I pick up the stomach flu, will I vomit?

For someone with emetophobia the concept of an immune system is lost, everything is a disease waiting to happen.

I do not, under any circumstance touch any of the handles in the restroom. Who knows what illness the person before me has had? I even go so far as to only use my shirt sleeve or a towel to open and close the door of the actual stall.

I am afraid of the sink. I am afraid that the person who washed their hands before me did it after vomiting half their lunch. I am afraid they left germs behind and I will touch these germs, touch my face and it is just all over.

I am afraid that I will be in a bathroom stall, especially in a bar or restaurant, and someone will run in and throw up in the stall right next to me. This has never happened, but it could.

Believe it or not I do go out. I have restroom rituals, such as the sleeve/paper towel game. I only use a toilet that I have put tons of toilet paper on the seat, and I do use my hand to turn on the water faucet to wash my hand, but once they are washed, I use my elbow to turn it off.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Telling One You Love that You Have Emetophobia

When I first met my husband I was so nervous to tell him about my bizarre phobia of people throwing up. My first thought was that I was the only person in the world who had this fear and what will he think? My second thought, is this something a sane person would admit to having? Will He think I am completely off my rocker?

I didn't even know that there was a term for the fear of throwing up. I thought I was the only person in the world who suffered from this. After all I had been to several therapists throughout the years and they had diagnosed me with everything but a standard run of the mill phobia.

I came upon the name emetophobia when I read a random Internet article about Denise Richards and her throw up phobia. I was so happy to have a name for my phobia I couldn't stop researching it on line.

I found the chat group that in my opinion changed my life for the better. I found the International Emetophobia Society or IES for short. I was finally able to read about and chat with others who had the same debilitating phobia. I was no longer alone.

Through IES I found that not only was I not alone, but that I was one of the lucky ones who were affected by this phobia. To sum up the fear it two-fold: emetophobes fear vomiting, and we fear hearing/seeing/smelling/sensing vomit, as well. A lot of emetophobes might even have an attack if they were to see vomit on TV, I too would feel very sick to my stomach, which would then lead me to be even more fearful since I'm also afraid of vomiting myself. Fortunately I can watch just about anything on television or in the movies without feeling ill. I am only affected by someone vomiting or discussing being sick to there stomach in my presence.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Once I had a name for my fear I felt like I needed to talk with everyone who had ever scene me have a panic attack when I was around someone who was sick. Unfortunately that list was way to long to conquer so I decided to start by telling my fiance.

I sat him down, and told him I had something important to tell him. I was sure he thought I was either calling off the wedding or that I was pregnant. When you sit someone down the last thing you are thinking is that they are going to tell you they have some bizarre phobia.

I have to say that the conversation went extremely well. I was open and honest and told him about all of the other famous and not so famous people who had this same phobia. He was glad to hear it was relatively common. That really went a long way towards easing his mind that my emetophobia went a long way to disguising some other illness.

I asked him to give me any questions that he might have. I promised him that I would answer all of his questions. The first question being, is there a cure? Unfortunately although the symptoms can be managed there is no "cure." I did tell him that I would go into therapy and see if that could help me.

I started seeing a counselor for about a year until we decided to part ways. I am now married to a wonderful understanding man, and even managed to survive a pregnancy, morning sickness and all. My husband is not a fan of my phobia, but he is very understanding and does not make me feel like the freak of nature I felt like for so long because of this phobia. I lead a happy healthy normal life and couldn't ask for anything more.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Emetophobia and Pregnancy: Fear of Vomiting Meets Morning Sickness

What Happens when and Emetophobe Gets Pregnant

The morning that I found out I was pregnant should have been the happiest day of my life. I was two days late, and feeling a little "off." I had only been married for five months and was not planning on starting a family for a few more years. I went in the bathroom and took a pregnancy test to prove to myself I wasn't pregnant. I thought my nausea was a psychosomatic illness, not an actual pregnancy. I peed on the stick and it was positive.

I had always wanted children, heck I told my husband I wanted five children. I should be crying tears of joy right now, but my head was spinning, my heart went into overdrive, and I couldn't breathe. Why? I suffer from Emetophobia, the fear of vomit and vomiting. In my mind pregnancy equaled, well, morning sickness and we all know what morning sickness equals. I had heard horror stories from girlfriends of constant vomiting, not being able to keep anything down, and of not being able to control when and where it happened. I couldn't have that happen to me. I couldn't vomit, I simply couldn't.

When you have emetophobia you live in constant fear of getting sick, and in a lot of cases you do whatever you can to avoid anything that could possibly make you throw-up. A lot of emetophobes can not even watch someone on television getting sick. When you are pregnant, you can't help but be sick. Yes there are the cases of women flying through pregnancy without so much as a hiccup, but I was convinced that it was not going to be me.So when that pregnancy test came back positive, I thought I was going to die, quite literally. I thought that I would have a nine month long panic attack, and my body would just give out. I could not stop crying, and was barely able to stop hyperventilating. My husband rushed to my side to see what was wrong. He hugged me tightly and told me that it was good news, that we were going to be a family. I just looked at him and said, "but I an afraid I will throw up."

To have a fear that completely overtakes your life is hard enough, when it ruins what should be the best day of your life it is down right brutal. I knew I had to do something. I couldn't get through my pregnancy like this. I ran to my bedroom and looked for my bottle of compazine. At the height of my illness I carried a full bottle of the stuff around with me at all times just in case I needed to take it to prevent vomiting. The bottle had expired three years prior, and I didn't even know if it would be safe for the baby anyway. I was lost. How could I stop myself from throwing up, how could I get through this pregnancy.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

My husband didn't know what to do with me so he went with the standard and told me to take several deep breathes. I did and slowly came out of my hysterical panic attack. I began to embrace reality. I knew that this was something that I had to think about logically, that yes I was pregnant, but that did not mean the entire nine months would be spend bowing to the porcelain god. I would get through this, and in the end, not only would I be stronger and better at conquering this fear, but I would have a beautiful baby.

I was pregnant and I had a human life growing inside of me. What a miraculous, beautiful event. This is what I have always wanted, what I prayed for, I was blessed with a child. Once I got my focus back I could breath again. my heart slowed down and I was ready to be rational. Not every women suffers from morning sickness, and maybe I would be one of the lucky ones who didn't. Maybe if I did get morning sickness it would help me get over this phobia. this could be just the thing to kick this phobia in the butt. This baby could in the end cure me of this phobia that I had held so tightly too since I was six years old.

I am happy to report that once the initial panic came and went I was fine. I didn't sail through all nine months of pregnancy, but no one does. I sought out help and found a great therapist who practiced cognitive behavioral therapy. I realized that the vomit wasn't the source of my problem, but rather it just triggered the panic and the panic was the real problem. I did get sick, once, and survived the whole ordeal without going into any sort of panic attack. i just got sick, and moved on. I am in no way cured, but I am working on it. My baby was in November. She was happy and healthy, and so far phobia free.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Emetophobia and Pregnancy: Part Two

My whole life I remember thinking that all pregnant women vomit. It was an inevitable part of life, then in college during my Philosophy of Women class a professor told us that she never got sick once when she was pregnant with her daughter. This news changed my life.

Up until then I had vowed never to have kids, I was going to adopt. Why? Because I have emetophobia. Simply put emetophobia is the fear of vomiting.

This instructor had a theory that green vegetables caused vomiting during pregnancy. I don't know why, or what she thought was in them that made a pregnant women sick, but she said that by avoiding green vegetables she avoided morning sickness. For some reason I never forgot this piece of information.

I would hear things throughout the year from other people like always keep saltines next to your bed. One women swore by ginger-root every morning. I gathered all of this information and kept a mental checklist for the next ten years.

My second step in preparing myself for pregnancy was to find out what I could and could not take while I was pregnant. I had so many anti-emetics at home, but which ones would be safe during pregnancy. Throughout the years my therapist used to laugh at the fact that I carried around an arsenal of medications, ginger root, compazine, and cola syrup. The trick was to find out which ones were safe during my pregnancy.

I researched normal cures for morning sickness and investigated a few alternative medicines. I found that I could hang on to my old stand byes, ginger-root and cola syrup, but the compazine would have to go.

I found some new herbal alternatives to try out. One thing I found that was safe during pregnancy and promised to provide relief was red raspberry leaf. Red Raspberry Leaf is found in a lot of pregnancy support teas because it is the most widely known herbal nutrient for uterine health, what you will find out if you dig a little deeper is that it does in fact help nausea. I would drink a glass whenever feeling a little off, and it worked wonders.

After doing all of my research I also wanted to ask my doctor what he recommends to prevent nausea and vomiting. To my surprise he recommended drinking Lemonade. He said that a lot of nausea can be caused due to dehydration, and something in the lemonade can in fact settle the stomach.

The fact that a sour beverage would cure morning-sickness made sense when my research on the subject turned up a product called preggie pops that also helped nausea. Preggie pops and preggie pop drops helped my nausea with their blend of essential oils and slightly sour taste.

When I finally did become pregnant I was scared, but I was prepared. I had emetophobia, but I had properly researched everything safe effective morning sickness cures and was ready to safely and securely concur my morning sickness without any fear of harming my unborn child. I am proud to say that by using the tricks I learned through my research I survived a healthy and happy pregnancy, something I thought would be impossible for someone with emetophobia a few years back.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Going to a Bar When You are an Emetophobe

Having a Fear of Vomit in the Most Common Place People Throw Up

One of the hardest parts of having emetophobia is having a social life. When you have emetophobia you constantly live in fear that someone, anyone around you will vomit. So when someone with emetophobia walks into a bar a simple equation pops into their head: People + alcohol = vomit.

I hate being in bars because I know someone will drink too much. I know that I don't have control over whether or not that person will find their way out the door, or find their way to me when they start to feel ill. Not to mention all of the people that you came with, you can not possibly control how much they drink, and chances are you are the designated driver, so you have to drive in the car all the while fearing one of them will ask you to pull over.

Why is the emetophobe always the designated driver, because of what the actual decision to drink means. Deciding to drink puts you in a position where you can drink to much. Too much alcohol means that you might just get sick. I just don't drink at all, and if I do I only have one drink. I have not been drunk in years because I live in fear that I will get sick. I have been drunk before, really drunk. I am talking the kind of drunk that sends you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped drunk. Obviously, I survived it, but I learned my lesson, when the drunkenness fades and the sickness doesn't it is one big panic attack.

So what happens when an emetophobe, or an emet as I like to refer to myself as, walks into a bar. Chances are the emet has so much pent up anxiety over whether or not someone, anyone in this bar will get sick that they don't have fun. They are thinking about how much everyone around them is drinking. They can't take the edge off with alcohol, because they don't want to get sick themselves, and as I said before chances are they are the designated driver anyway. I personally count the seconds till I go home. I babysit my friends to the point that they are so annoyed that they might just burst. My husband is so sick of hearing, "do you really need another drink," or, "are you drunk?" that he just wants to scream.

In conclusion emetophobia and bars just don't mix.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

Driving in Cars with Emetophobia: Vomit Phobia and Car Driving Phobia, One in the Same?

I hate driving in cars. I can drive in a car by myself with absolutely no problem, but when I am in a car, with other people, I go into panic mode. The longer the trip, the worse the panic attack. You might ask yourself what I am even panicking about. The girl has emetophobia, not car riding phobia.

I decided to do a little research about what it is like to be afraid to ride in cars. I wanted to know, if that was my only phobia, what would the symptoms be. I looked it up on a website devoted to curing phobias. I in no way endorse this site, but it does have the best definition of various phobias I could find on-line. That being said I quote the following from the Change That's Right Now website, "Known by a number of names - Amathophobia and Fear of Riding in Cars being the most common - the problem often significantly impacts the quality of life. It can cause panic attacks and keep people apart from loved ones and business associates. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread, although everyone experiences car ride phobia in their own way and may have different symptoms."

Riding in cars does in fact cause me to have panic attacks, I experience shortness of breath, sweating, even the nausea they describe. The big difference between myself and someone who experiences these symptoms simply because they are riding in a car is the reasoning behind the phobia. The whole car ride I am thinking to myself, is that person sitting next to me going to throw up. Why? Well we all know that emetophobia is the fear of vomiting, but I think it gets worse in an enclosed space. Worse yet, being in a car, a moving vehicle, means that if the person next to you does in fact get sick, you can not get out. You are stuck in the car with your worst fear.

I have often wondered what I would do if someone actually did get sick next to me while I was driving. Most people would laugh it off, find it a funny story, but honestly, it could cause me to stop breathing, to get into an accident, or even pull off the side of the road and refuse to get back in the car. Saying it out loud, or rather typing it out this sounds ridiculous, but this phobia is so strong, so powerful, that this is how I feel. I know it's ridiculous, I know that I sound slightly off my rocker, and don't think for a minute that I wouldn't love to stop feeling this way. I would love to be someone who can go on a car ride, and enjoy it, but I am not.

There are a lot of strange comforts that I find in my fear, but this is not one of them. Driving in cars is an inevitable part of life. My family deserves to go on vacation without their mommy having crazy "what if" thoughts. I should be able to go to a bar with my husband and not drive home panicking that he will be sick, because, and this is a whole different topic, chances are I have cut him off well before he would even be drunk enough to get sick. I know I need get help.

Fortunately, I do ride in cars, my fear has not overtaken my life to the point where I am stuck in my house. As much as I hate this fear, at least it does not, and never will completely control me, and that in and of itself is a victory to be proud of.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE