Society

Crippled day and night by the fear of vomiting, you avoid anything that might fuel this fear. Socially isolated and frightened of judgment, you give in to a spiral of avoidance slowly but surely breaks all your links with the outside world. So how can you control and overcome this fear that keeps growing in your flesh?

Emetophobia, the irrational fear of vomiting, is more prevalent among young women and is one of the most commonly endured phobias. The suffering caused by this fear of vomiting is real and handicaps many people. Often neglected and unrecognized, it leads to extreme withdrawal and eating habits that can damage the victims' health. According to the UK Department of Health, emetophobia is the third most common phobia after social phobia and agoraphobia. And yet, people who suffer from emetophobia rarely seek help because of the shame they feel. They believe that no treatment is possible, and wrongly consider that their phobia has always existed and is an integral part of their being.

Origins

This phobia is triggered by a trauma or emerges at a time of heightened sensitivity. “Emetophobia can often be traced back to a traumatic event involving vomiting in childhood or youth,” reports Le Vif. Psychological, environmental and genetic factors can all contribute to its onset. Simple, “classic” phobias (fear of the dark, enclosed spaces, spiders) are often rooted in childhood, while more complex fears, such as emetophobia, can arise at any age. The phobia of vomiting can also occur after an illness, a gastrointestinal upset, intense stress or lack of sleep. The fear generates a spiralling response: the anxiety of vomiting or seeing vomit reinforces the nauseous impression and generates even more stress. Then the cycle repeats itself.

Consequences

Being emetophobic means having to analyze every situation in your daily life. The tragedy of this fear lies in what it induces: avoidance. Anything deemed potentially frightening will be avoided: viruses, alcoholic evenings, spicy foods, rich foods... It can also morph into a food phobia. What is swallowed is carefully selected, meticulously studied. Everything becomes bland. Profound eating disorders, even anorexia, can also occur simultaneously. Fear leads to the development of strategies and rituals to reassure (phobo-compulsive disorders, particular attention to objects touched and clothes worn). Taking anti-emetics with you at all times, for example, helps to alleviate symptoms of anxiety. Those affected therefore adopt avoidance behaviours, resulting in desocialization, isolation and/or depression.

Treatment

The first step in treatment is to get the body to relax. The aim is to achieve muscular relaxation, which in turn can lead to a general reduction in stress. Once the body has memorized the sensation of relaxation, the next step is to expose it more and more frequently to the phobia in question. Having mastered the panic fear, you gradually learn to move out of this painful world of fear and restraint. The aim is to identify the cause of the fear and reduce the stress it causes. A 6-month course of behavioral therapy can be of great help. The duration of treatment is estimated at 3 months in the case of brief therapy.

(AsD - Source: Le Vif/Benjamin Lubszynski - Photo: Unsplash)