Fear Of Throwing Up
The fear of throwing up is quiet common. Millions of people suffer from it all over the world, in fact, it is one of the most common phobia in the world.
The medical term for this condition is emetophobia, coming from the ancient Greek word emesis, which means vomiting, and phobia, which means fear.
Click Here If You Are Afraid Of Vomiting
or
Click Here If You Are Afraid Of Seeing Others Vomiting
There are many different kinds of emetophobia. Some people are afraid that they might throw up, some people are afraid that they might witness others throwing up, some people are afraid of somehow getting in contact with vomit, some people are afraid of the feeling of nausea.
The fear can have a very limiting effect on the lifes of people who suffer from it. For example, a lot of people will simply never get on a boat or even an airplane, because they are afraid that it might make them feel sick. Some women with intense emetophobia will avoid pregnancy simply because they are too scared of the quiet common phenomenon of throwing up when their body undergo all the changes that are involved – even though they might want to have children.
It can also lead to certain kinds of obsessive-compulsive eating behaviors, where people develop very specific “eating rituals”. These rituals would seem silly to outside observers. They might constantly check their foods for freshness and cleanliness. In general, this is of course a good behavior, but there is a point after which this behavior can get very limiting. They also often avoid certain kinds of food altogether that might possibly cause them an upset stomach.
In some cases, the fear of throwing up can even lead to anorexia, when people are so afraid of having to vomit that they actually reduce their food intake so much that it poses a threat to their health.
As of now, it is not known what causes this phobia, but it seems as if past experiences might play a role. Basically, when a person has witnessed a family member vomiting (e.g. an alcoholic father), the emotional impact of the whole experience might subconsciously have been attached to the act of vomiting and created this feeling of anxiety.
Treatment Options
Some people want to take anti-anxiety medication. However, these kinds of drugs can have severe psychological side effects, and in most cases, once people stop using them, their phobia comes up again. This might basically lead to a kind of dependency on the medication.
Another problem is that one of the common possible side-effects of this medication is nausea. That’s why many patients refuse to take this medication.
Psychologists also often use exposure therapy. Basically, it is a way of exposing people with certain anxieties to the thing that they fear, but in a controlled and safe environment under the supervision of a trained psychologist. Now this does not mean that patients have to vomit in front of a psychologist or that they have to touch other people’s vomit. Instead, therapists use movies that show people throwing up. The therapists then helps them to find better ways of managing the anxiety they experience.
Hypnosis is another common treatment for people who want to overcome their fear of throwing up. So far, there is no conclusive evidence about the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for emetophobia, but many people state that it has helped them.