Would you like to help with research?

[David Veale]

Do you suffer from emetophobia - Would you like help with research?
(N.B. graphic language warning in post below)

There is still a lot to learn about emetophobia and we are carrying out
various research projects that aim to help us find out more about
emetophobia and its treatment

a) We are conducting a study that aims to create a new questionnaire
that will be able to measure the severity of emetophobic symptoms and
help therapists track the changes in symptoms over time. We are also
trying to find out how often people with emetophobia vomit in a given
year compared to the general population. This will involve filling in some
questionnaires online and keeping a record of each time you vomit over
the next 2 years.

b) IF you are within traveling distance distance of London, then We are
conducting a study that involves a detailed interview with a psychologist
about the development of your emetophobia.

If you would be interested in participating in this research or would just
like some more information please contact Nell by email
[email protected] or by phone on 0203 228 3212. By replying
you do not commit yourself to anything, she will simply give you some
more information and give you the opportunity to ask questions.

More details on emetophobia are at Fearofvomiting.co.uk
Treatment for emetophobia on the NHS in the UK is also available at our
national centre for specific phobia of vomiting at the address below
Anxiety Disorders Unit
Bethlem Royal Hospital
Alexandra House
Monks Orchard Road
Beckenham
BR3 3BX
TEL: 0203 - 228 4146
The website has more details on the referral process.

Thank you
Dr David Veale

[gumdropper1]

David, I wish you a lot of luck with your research. I have done lots of surveys of the kind you are using on both emets and non-emets and the data are elusive.

I also wish you would be more sensitive in talking to emets. The line "This will involve filling in some questionnaires online and keeping a record of each time you vomit over the next 2 years" was particularly disturbing, as if you expect that emets are eagerly awaiting the chance to vomit. Just the thought that someone is expecting them to vomit is apt to scare most emets away from your survey even if they were sympathetic toward the project in the first place.A more effective approach to reach emets would be to say "This will involve filling in a questionnaire online and then receiving follow-up questionnaires from time to time over a two-year period."If you will kindly read my "Frequently Asked Questions about Emetophobia" (the link is below), you will understand how disturbing the thought of vomiting is to emets. You just don't say "each time you vomit over the next two years" to an emet the way you might say "each time you visit the dentist over the next two years."

The data are apt to be scant anyway; according to surveys I've done for the Emetophobia FAQ, the average emet most recently vomited 12 1/2 years ago. Many of us have gone decades.

In a recent survey I did of the general population asking if they threw up in the past year, 70.3 percent said yes and only 29.7 percent said no. 84.6 of the women and 66.7 percent of the men said yes.In response to the follow-up question, do you think you will barf in the coming year, the result was exactly the same. This is a question one would not even think of posing to a group of emets. In terms of the past year question, only 20.9 percent of emets said yes.

Doug

[katie_alexandra]

This message caught my eye because Dr Veale has been my Doctor on and off for the last two years and I have been under his care as an inpatient and an outpatient.

If as Dr Veale said, you are able to travel to London I strongly advise you get in touch with him. I had to go private for my treatment, but now if it is available on the NHS you have nothing to loose.

Please take my word when I say he is very understanding and sensitive towards emetophobes. In my initial consultation with him I felt at ease and trusted him completely when he told me his suggested treatment plan. I am not cured, but I am sooo much better than I used to be. I actually have a life now!!

Last time I spoke to him he was looking to write a book about emetophobia, which is probably why he is asking us to fill in the research surveys. I think this will help emetophobia suffers a lot in the way that it will raise awareness.

Anyway, just thought I would mention that!!

[David Veale]

Thank you for the feedack Doug. I am very sorry for for distressing you
or anyone else who reads the post.

One of the aims is of this particular study is to determine if people with
emetophobia are any better at preventing "barfing" than say people
without emetophobia - it's very difficult to find in the scientific literature
good data on the frequency of barfing in the general population which is
not related to say getting drunk or another high risk activity. For example
I don't have emetophobia and have not barfed for about 30 years (and
this was when I was back-packing in India and eating from street stalls
so not very surprising) and yet since then I have not done any of the
avoidance or checking behaviours that are common in people with
emetophobia. It's possible that we may need to take a longer time frame
that 2 years to determine if there any differences between a group of
emetophobes and the rest of the community. I have had emetophobia
patients who have barfed despite all their avoidance and checking
behaviours so I don't we can yet say for definite that emetophobes will be
less than non-emetophoobes who are age sex pregnant etc matched
I want to reassure you that the issue of the frequency of barfing is only
one small part of the research program in which we hope to try and
develop better treatments and publish the results.
I do think part of overcoming emetophobia means accepting that one has
a limited influence over events and that the solution is now the problem
that maintains the distress and handicap.As I am sure you know the scientific literature on emetophobia is very sparse and I hope we can in
the long term find better treatments - so please bear with me.
David

[irish_grrl76]

Reading the post above me....geeze....the word, b*, written out 5 times is too much for me. It's turning my stomach. It's much more repulsive, for some reason, than the word v* is to me.

[gumdropper1]

Alexis, LOL. I have been criticized for using that word here too. If you look it up in the dictionary, it says "(chiefly students)." Maybe we can take some kind of power from it being a kids' word.

I try to mix up the words I use here on IES, which is different from my Emetophobia FAQ in which I almost always use words that start with V.

Doug, who think "booting" makes it sound like it's fun