Many emetophobics try unsuccessfully to deal with the fear of vomiting by avoiding it when they can. This leads to a worsening of their emetophobia symptoms over time. This avoidance mechanism that the emet learns actually makes them worse, not better in the long run if treatment is not sought. This is because the phobia becomes strongly associated with graphic negative imagery in the emetophobes unconscious mind. This fear eventually becomes so deeply rooted that it cannot be controlled by the persons conscious effort and willpower alone.

Many sufferers with emetophobia often realize that their fear is irrational, but due to circumstances they often feel powerless to do anything about the situation. This is where emetophobia hypnosis can provide a powerful tool in curing the phobia because it can dissociate or disconnect the fear from the negative imagery within the unconscious mind.

It is an excellent form of non-invasive therapy, and is also much cheaper than other forms of emetophobia treatment that can provide permanent results in curing your phobia.

When the link between fear and vomiting is hypnotically changed you will begin to relax with the idea of being sick. Then you will be able to lead a new life again without your vomit phobia taking charge of your every action.

HypnosisDownloads.com has been providing hypnosis downloads for over 15 years. They offer a 90 day money back guarantee if it is not right for you. You can get your own copy of the emetophobia hypnosis download by clicking here : hypnosis for emetophobia

Below is a short video by Mark Tyrrell, co-founder of Hypnosis Downloads.com. He discusses how hypnosis is used in treating both phobias and anxiety related illnesses.

Video opens up in new window.

If you would prefer to try hypnosis for free and see if it will be suitable for you, click the link below :

So take some comfort in the knowledge that not only is emetophobia a very common phobia, but there are several emetophobic celebrities that have emetophobia. They are still able to have very successful careers & lives in spite of having this phobia.

Denise Richards – Actress

Below is a link to Denise Richards emetophobia story :

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/richards-has-a-throw-up-phobia

Joan Baez – Folk Singer

Matt Lauer – NBC Today show host

James Dean – Actor – Couldn’t find any info that he had emetophobia. It was just on Wikipedia site.

Charlie Brooker – Journalist, comic writer & broadcaster. Well known emetophobe from the UK. Below is a link to one of Charlies articles in the guardian newspaper. The story is a little graphic in nature regarding a certain stomach virus that hit the UK back in 2008 :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/14/comment.charliebrooker

And two celebrities often mistakenly thought of as emetophobic, but actually have germ phobia and/or obsessive compulsive disorder.

Howie Mandel – Comedian and his germ phobia. has been reported that his germ phobia is so bad at times that he has to live in another house from his family.

Cameron Diaz – Actress has OCD with germ phobia. Well known for being scared of touching doorknobs and tries to open doors with her elbows !!!

If you know of any other celebrities with emetophobia, please feel free to comment on them below.

Hypnotherapy Phobia Clinic in London, UK
phobia-therapy.com

Personal blog by an emetophobic
fearsandphobias.blogspot.com

Website providing free online exposure therapy for emetophobia. Run by a clinical therapist who happens to also be an emetophobic.
emetophobiaresource.org

Maybe yes, maybe no. Please let me explain. With myself being an emetophobe since early childhood, I have probably tried every kind of so called emetophobia treatment there is available today. I have had treatment with a clinical therapist, hypnotherapy with a therapist and online with several hypnotherapy/meditation courses, cognitive behavior therapy and medication !

It is however the Emetophobia Recovery System, along with exposure therapy I think, that has helped me the most to overcome my fear of vomiting.

I was introduced to this form of emetophobia treatment by a friend who was also emetophobic, and she raved about its success in helping her. I was not convinced enough though at first to give it a try. This was because I had already tried so many avenues without much success before.

The main problem was the therapy sessions that I had locally didn’t work for me, and in fact made my emetophobia symptoms worse. The reason I believe my sessions were so bad personally was because the therapist didn’t really understand my condition, plus had no previous experience with an emetophobic before me. Because I didn’t respond to the treatment, which was too graphic and to fast for me to cope with. The therapist became frustrated with my progress and basically gave up on me. Not only did this make me mistrust clinical therapists, but also it made my emetophobia worse as I was confronted with the progressive treatment to soon.

So, after several chats over the phone with my friend who had used the emetophobia recovery system personally, I decided to give it a go. I realized how much it had helped my friend when she kept asking to discuss it over a coffee in a new coffee shop in town that she had been too and liked. When her condition was at its worse before she would never have suggested going out to a public place like a new coffee shop. She told me that it was the course that had helped her get out more and had eased her condition drastically.

So I took the plunge and bought the system, and then did nothing with it for a month. Not because I was to busy. It was because I could not face going through another treatment that I believed could make we worse than ever. I then got another call from my friend who asked whether I had tried the course yet. I sadly told her that I had not, and the reason why. She said I will come over and we will go through it together. I went into a panic that all emetophobes can probably relate to. I really did not want to confront the treatment after my past experiences. She insisted however and came over.

I had bought the print and CD version, so we went through the Emetophobia Recovery System manual first. My friend pointed out to me in the manual all the advice about swapping all the negative thoughts that I had built up over the years, and how to do it in a step by step fashion. She had read the manual so many times that she knew where everything was. The package also comes with three cds, and in the first audio it goes straight into controlling and calming any anxiety that you may have about the program. Which I did obviously.

The second and third audio CD are were you get to grips with the system and tackle the phobia head on. It teaches you why you react the way you do to vomiting and nausea. Plus techniques on dealing with your anxiety and symptoms associated with vomit phobia. You slowly learn how to train your mind to think and react differently to any situation that may cause the fear of vomiting to occur. I also at this time, with my friends suggestion started taking exposure therapy online which had helped her. It helped me to confront the training that was ahead of me with the Emetophobia Recovery System.

So is the Emetophobia Recovery System an emetophobia cure that will work for you ?

Well like I said at the beginning, the yes and no reference is because of my experience with the system. If my friend had not forced me to look at it and work through the course it would have been a complete waste of money. There is a lot of material to get through, both in the manual and on the CD audio. And although you are encouraged to work at your own pace you have to complete all the tasks it tells you to, plus repeated listening to the CD audio training and re-reading of the manual is necessary if you want to see the full benefit of the course.

Has the system cured my emetophobia ?

Well it certainly has helped me to control my anxiety, plus I can now go and do more social events than I ever did before. I no longer have panic attacks when I overhear someone is nauseous or has a stomach illness. I still feel the fear rising of course, but I am now able to deal with and stop the symptoms before the fear escalates into a mad panic attack. As it always did before I took on this emetophobia treatment. I now enjoy my life much more than when emetophobia used to control my every action.

The system is inexpensive compared to any therapy that you may consider. Plus you can try the program risk free to see if the course helps you as the course is guaranteed to help you or you can REQUEST YOUR MONEY BACK, as there is a 60 DAY GUARANTEE with the system.

I would recommend this program to you if you cannot afford, or do not want therapy, or if you cannot find a suitable therapist in your area that has emetophobia treatment.

All the products that we recommend to you will have their own terms of service, disclaimers & privacy policies that are unrelated to those stated here on this website. We cannot make any guarantees that the products that we recommend on this website will work for you. Therefore, we should not be held responsible for any consequences resulting from the use of the products that we may recommend to you.

I will be relaying both her experiences with living with emetophobia and the treatments that she has undertook, both good and bad on this website. I will also provide my experience with seeing this phobia first hand in a loved one, and the struggle that she has endured to get free of this condition.

She wishes to remain anonymous. So to respect her privacy, the posts written by her will be in my name.

I created the website to help her confront her vomit phobia and long term treatment. Plus her experiences with dealing with emetophobia will hopefully give help and encouragement to others with this debilitating illness.

Feel free to check out our site. Please make sure to bookmark us so you can come back and find further emetophobia resources and information posted by us in the future.

Wishing you every success…

- Paul Trammell

You can contact me by either using the contact form or by email at : support[@]vomitphobia.org

Email without the [ ] brackets.

Or if you prefer to ask a question in the comments box to the bottom of each page, I will do my best to provide an answer for you on the website or I will try and find out the information that you are looking for.

What is desensitization therapy ?

Desensitization therapy or exposure therapy as it is also known, has two stages that the vomit phobia sufferer will work with. The first aspect of the training will be learning relaxation techniques. This is used to help you deal with the emotional distress and anxiety associated with the second part of the training. This involves exposing the emetophobic to their condition by using words and images, videos and sounds. The exposure will go from mild to quite graphic in the latter stages. Progression to the next stage is only attempted after their anxiety level drops to negligible levels after repeated exposure. The patient learns to maintain control by using the relaxation techniques, this will desensitize them to their phobia and reduce or eliminate their anxiety levels.

The aim of desensitization therapy as an emetophobia treatment is to intervene and reduce or eliminate the link that has been learned between the anxiety felt, and a situation that typically causes the fear.

Done correctly, desensitization therapy switches off the anxiety attributed to the phobia and replaces it with a relaxed response in the brain. As these responses in the brain are polar opposites to each other the emetophobia will become significantly diminished or eradicated all together.

What is involved in desensitization therapy ?

After the relaxation technique is learnt thoroughly by the emetophobe, both they and their therapist will create an “anxiety hierarchy.” The level of anxiety will usually range from 0 to 10 at the highest level of anxiety. This anxiety hierarchy will involve stimuli starting at the mildest form, progressing on up to the most distressing.

Possible steps in your desensitization therapy once your relaxation techniques have been mastered :

Step 1: Draw a stick man with a line coming from the mouth on a piece of paper.

Step 2: Read an article or cartoon series about someone unwell.

Step 3: Then you would progress to cartoon type characters being sick.

Step 4: Then real pictures of people being ill.

Step 5: Graphic medical pictures.

Step 6: Progression then to watching cartoon videos of people or animals feeling
sick or barfing.

Step 7: Videos of real people being sick or unwell.

Step 8: Sounds of unwell people/animals from mild to more graphic in nature.

Step 9: Playing games in guessing if it is soup/vegetables or real sick.

You maybe thinking about now that your fear stems from yourself actually feeling ill or being sick, not other people. So how can this form of emetophobia treatment help me? The trick is to actually learn to put yourself in the pictures or videos as you see/hear them. As your mind cannot tell the difference between an imagined situation and a real event, this form of treatment will help alleviate your fear of vomiting symptoms.

If you wish to learn more on the background and practice of desensitization therapy, then these books should provide you with a good understanding of the techniques involved.

Exposure Therapy for Anxiety: Principles and Practice
. Jonathan S. Abramowitz PhD (Author), Brett J. Deacon PhD (Author), Stephen P. H. Whiteside PhD ABPP (Author) – Hardcover.

Behavior Modification: Principles, Issues, and Applications. New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1976 – By Craighead, W. Edward.

The Practice of Behavior Therapy (Pergamon General Psychology Series 1). Tarrytown, NY: Pergamon Press, 1990 – By Wolpe, Joseph.

Who should try desensitization therapy ?

If your emetophobia has progressed from a mild fear of vomiting to disrupting your life on a consistent basis. Either it is effecting your relationships, your work or you have to go out of your way to avoid a situation that may cause vomiting. Then desensitization therapy could help alleviate your symptoms drastically or even cure your vomit phobia.

WARNING – Due to the nature of this therapy whereby you will be confronting your fear on a regular basis, this emetophobia treatment is only advisable if you or your child can handle the progressive exposure involved. Mental toughness and dedication is needed in order for this form of treatment to be successful. Due to the possibility of extreme panic reactions, which could make your vomit phobia worse. A medical professional and/or qualified therapist should be sought if in any doubt with this form of treatment.

Where can you get desensitization therapy for Emetophobia ?

Although desensitization therapy could be practiced at home by yourself using the steps above. As previously stated it is highly recommended that you or your child has this form of treatment with a qualified therapist either in person or online. The long term effects should be more effective if undertook with a qualified therapist.

If you wish to practice this technique online I would suggest emetophobiaresource.org which can be found by clicking on the link below :

emetophobiaresource.org

This website and desensitization therapy instruction is run by a recovered emetophobe who is now a clinical counselor. The program is free for you to undertake yourself or with a qualified therapist. You do not have to worry about what you will find at this website. None of the pictures or videos are on view from the home page for which the above link takes you to. The pictures and videos are all hidden from view at the bottom of the page and you are warned before scrolling down on what you will find in the course.

A qualified therapist can help you with making sure that your relaxation technique is correct as you go through the stages and can also monitor your anxiety levels as you participate in the above training.

Emetophobia is an abnormal and intense fear of vomiting. The symptoms of emetophobia can arise in a sufferer with both themselves feeling like vomiting and/or someone else feeling nauseated or has already vomited. The emetophobia symptoms can also be triggered by watching someone vomit on television or cinema screen. Emetophobia can strike anyone from as early as 6 years of age to adulthood. The fear of vomiting in a public place often makes the emetophobic avoid social gatherings. The term emetophobia comes from the Greek word for (vomiting) “emetos” and “phobos” (fear).

In this video Brianna, who is an emetophobic defines in her own unique way what emetophobia is and how other people usually react to her phobia.

Emetophobia in children usually occurs between the ages of 6 and 10 years of age. In a lot of cases there may well be no identifiable cause of your Childs vomit phobia.

There are some causes of emetophobia that are well known and they are :

If the child has suffered a severe case of vomiting between these formative years, they could develop emetophobia, especially if at the time the parent or guardian showed signs of panic or disapproval. Also, the child can develop emetophobia if they were a witness of severe vomiting in others due to illness or pregnant mothers, or even alcoholic parents.

The actual act of vomiting at the time may not have been that severe, it is the reaction in the Childs mind to the event that embeds the fear of vomiting into their unconscious mind. This is why many adults who are emetophobic cannot recall why or how they got the condition in the first place without regressive hypnosis.

Although emetophobia is not a hereditary condition, if any of the Childs parents has the fear of vomiting phobia then this can be passed on to the child as a learned phobia.

What are the symptoms of emetophobia in children

The symptoms of children who have developed emetophobia are various and include :

- mood swings

- depression

- Talking a lot more about vomiting with a parent when they never discussed it before

- Seems to be developing an obsession with stomach upsets

- Possible overreaction to another person talking about vomiting

- Avoiding friend or family member who is sick and also not wanting to talk about it

- Are exhibiting other odd behaviors that are difficult to explain & have never been seen before

- Sudden onset of food pickiness and narrowing of choice of food, usually coupled with much smaller portions required than before

It is important to note that just because your child is showing one of the symptoms above this does not automatically confirm that they have the condition. It is when more than one sign is repeated consistently that there is probably a case for the child having emetophobia.

A tell tale sign of an emetophobic is if they suddenly develop “crutches” that they need to carry around with them. Examples include antacids, vitamin c tablets, peppermint sweets, ginger candy and pills, charcoal biscuits and a whole host of other stomach associated pills. The emetophobe will carry their crutches everywhere as they believe they can prevent and control any possible vomit event that may occur.

Emetophobia treatment

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been proven to be an effective emetophobia treatment for many emetophobic sufferers and a competent practitioner should be sought through the Childs physician. An informative post on what CBT is and how it can help treat emetophobia can be found by clicking here : Emetophobia and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

If the parent prefers a more self help approach then we would recommend the excellent book by Tamar Chansky.
Titled : Freeing Your Child from Anxiety: Powerful, Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Child’s Fears, Worries, and Phobias

This book not only tells you what to do with your Childs illness but also explains how to go about it in a child friendly way. Even if you decide you do not want to practice the ideas in the book with your child it will give the parent a good understanding on what the child is going through.

vomitphobia.org contains general information about medical conditions and treatments. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such.
Limitation of warranties

The medical information on this website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. vomitphobia.org makes no representations or warranties in relation to the medical information on this website.

Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, vomitphobia.org does not warrant that:

the medical information on this website will be constantly available, or available at all; or
the medical information on this website is complete, true, accurate, up-to-date, or non-misleading.

About this medical disclaimer

This document is based on a free Contractology template available at www.freenetlaw.com. Premium Contractology templates include consultancy agreement forms.
Professional assistance

You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.

If you have any specific questions about any medical matter you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.

If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition you should seek immediate medical attention.

You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website.
Liability

Nothing in this medical disclaimer will limit any of our liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law, or exclude any of our liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.