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Emetophobia is a pathology that pushes patients to avoid certain foods, or even not to leave their homes for fear of vomiting … Zoom on this disabling phobia. and how to treat it effectively

What is emetophobia ?

Most people perceive vomit as sickening substances and the act of vomiting has never been pleasant. However, people with emetophobia are nervous about vomiting that it has serious consequences for their everyday lives. Some will even end up not daring to leave their homes.

Emetophobia, which affects more women than men, is one of the specific phobias such as Aquaphobia, Trypanophobia(fear of medical needles) or arachnophobia (fear of spiders).

Often people with specific phobias are only taken care of very late, because they often make sure that the objects or situations which are the subject of their phobia are avoided as much as possible. People who have anxieties by plane, will avoid taking this means of transport for example. This will only be very partially true for emetophobia.

What are the symptoms of the fear of vomiting ?

Obviously there is a wide variability regarding the severity of emetophobia. Some people affected by this form of phobia will be afraid of vomiting. Others will fear being seen vomiting or fear of being nauseated . And as a result, they will avoid all situations and places deemed by them to be “dangerous”. Every bodily sign, especially those coming from the gastrointestinal sphere, is experienced as a threat. It can be a question of nausea, but also simply gurgling of the stomach or intestinal sounds.

It can very quickly establish a vicious circle. Which is based on a mechanism where the anxiety itself through excitement in the brain. The vagal nerve can induce feelings of nausea.

The symptoms can be summarized as follows:

Fear of throwing up or seeing others throw up.

Avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations (which cause anxiety);

Or the fact of enduring these situations while still feeling enormous discomfort;

When confronted with vomiting, anxiety is typically manifested by an acceleration of the heart rate or even chest pain, dizziness, sweating, fear of feeling sick or even dying. the characteristic signs of a panic attack.

Sometimes significant weight loss can occur, because the fear of eating food settles and one avoids eating for fear of vomiting. So it happens that we confuse emetophobia with anorexia nervosa.

Some women may be afraid of getting pregnant for fear of nausea or vomiting during pregnancy, or later of being in front of a baby who is going to vomit himself.

Causes of emetophobia

When we can find them, the causes of emetophobia are very varied. This can be due to triggering events that are not serious, such as the arrival of a little brother or sister in children. For example, if the child has seen and heard his mother vomit a lot during pregnancy, he may later develop a fear of vomiting himself.

Examples of more painful causes, emetophobia can develop in people who have accompanied a sick loved one and who have often seen him vomit. It can also be a reaction to sexual abuse, such as forced oral sex and all kinds of assaults.

Emetophobia Severity Scale

The Emetophobia Severity Test is used to determine how ‘significant’ your Emetophobia symptoms are. It was developed by Rob Kelly and the Thrive Organisation and is known as the Emetophobia Severity Scale (ESS).

How to cure fear of voming ?

Several treatments and solutions exist, allowing to cure emetophobia. They depend primarily on the person subject to the anxiety disorder, and their needs, and therefore on the protocol established with the clinical psychologist, who will treat the disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Solution based on the patient’s action and his desire to gradually desensitize to everything that caused his anxiety disorders. For this, the therapy will involve different scenarios which will gradually allow a return to the normal and serene state in the situaitons which previously posed problems.

Hypnosis for emetophobia

The hypnosis sessions allow the patient with the disorder to recall and relive his trigger event internally. The role of the hypnotherapist or psychologist is to guide the patient, to allow him to find in him his buried resources, which will allow him to manage his problem. Once aware, he will be able to remember the “gesture” that had allowed him, during the hypnosis session, to manage the anxiety-provoking situation.

The Psychoanalytic Approach

It aims to shed light on the mechanisms of the anxiety phobic symptoms, by finding the buried and unconscious patterns and scenarios which give rise to the fear of vomiting.