What is Emetophobia?
Emetophobia is a common condition that is characterized by chronic fear of vomiting. People with this disorder will enact a wide array of compulsions and avoidance mechanisms around food, motion, germs, or pregnancy. Emetophobia is a subtype of Specific Phobias, but is also commonly associated with OCD. It is also closely linked to agoraphobia, as for some, vomiting/stomach pains are associated with anxiety. Emetophobia can also lead to anxiety trigger avoidance. In emetophobia, like agoraphobia, a fear of the symptom develops which supersedes logical risk assessment.
The best course of treatment for Emetophobia is Exposure Response Prevention, or ERP. Sometimes this fear is the result of a particularly traumatic vomiting event, in which case the client might want to begin with some trauma therapy that explores this incident. However, for the vast majority of emetophobia clients, this may end up being an unproductive detour, as the focus should be on desensitization to the trigger.
The following are potential exposures for emetophobia, done carefully and slowly with the support of a trained therapist:
Using a tongue depressor to mimic gagging feeling
Looking at pictures of vomiting
Eating foods that client associates with vomiting
Listening to sounds of vomiting
Watching the vomit scene from Pitch Perfect
Utilizing the Harry Potter Jelly Belly surprise flavor game, which includes a vomit flavor
Playing a vomit word game, alternating saying synonyms of vomit and descriptor words of vomit (s.a. puke, chunky, splatter)
Creating fake vomit (recipe), and having client role play over the toilet using the fake vomit
Kiddos with emetophobia should be guided to the book Guts, by Raina Telgemeier, a wildly popular graphic novel about emetophobia.
For college-age clients, assigning homework to go to a fraternity party around midnight.
Having a vomit photo as your home screen on your cell phone.
For most sufferers of emetophobia, any of these exposures would be highly triggering of anxiety. First we want to help the client with grounding techniques to come back into their bodies if an exposure goes too far. We also want to support our clients in welcoming the anxious, nauseous feeling that they will have during exposure, as this reaction is their friend. The more we are able to provoke this feeling in session, the more progress we can make to defeat the phobia.
If you or your loved one suffers from emetophobia and needs OCD support, please contact Kairos Wellness Collective.
