What helps with mild emetophobia?

[jenny98]

I was wondering if people with mild emetophobia get better or worse when exposed to panic-causing situations. For example, I have a hard time if I see v**** or if I am around children and keep thinking they might v**** or have germs. Will it make me better to force myself to be in these situations? Thanks for any advice!

[maddyblythechen]

Hi Jenny,

I know that exposure to vomit has never helped me and only made me (already drastic) emetophobia worse! A lot of people say that getting sick for the first time in several years helps them to move forward, but that wasn't how it was for me. And I panic violently whenever I am exposed to someone else vomiting, or if there's a bug going around the family.

You might get very varied answers -- everyone is different!

~Madeleine

[sage]

jenny - this is such a good question, with a fairly simple answer - if I might answer from a "scientific" point of view. First of all, avoidance is the #1 cause of phobia. So the more you avoid something, the worse your phobia will get. The folks who are testifying that exposure to vomiting made them worse are not wrong, however. At a certain point, once the phobia becomes severe enough, then exposure without the right conditions can actuallyre-traumatize a person. This may be what is happening to the other posters.

So if your phobia is mild AND if you can successfully use deep breathing and relaxation to calm yourself down AFTER seeing/hearing someone vomit AND if you can SUCCESSFULLY use "positive cognitions" during and after the episode (such as saying to yourself "I'm afraid but I'm alright" or "I'm not in any danger") THEN the exposure will be a positive experience - in fact, very positive.

Re-traumatization is not effective. This happens when you are "exposed" to what you fear, but your cognitions are negative (such as "Oh my Goooooooood!" or "I'm going to be sick!" and so forth) - and your heart is racing, and your body is reacting with fear and panic and you DON'T calm it down with breathing/relaxing.

So...judge for yourself. But whatever you do, do NOT avoid what only causes you mild fear. If you do, the fear will turn into complete panic and you will be debilitated with this phobia like so many others here.

Hopefully this helps.
Take care,
Sage

[rendil]

What's already been said, really.

About this time a year ago I was severely emetophobic. I never ate much and had panic attacks all the time. I was so consumed with this phobia that I even went into depression for a while. But then one day I got sick of it, and just decided to slowly expose myself. I started off with going back to eating whatever I wanted--just in smaller doses. Eventually I went out with friends for a little awhile, and made myself go out and run errands with my mom (which can go up to nearly 6 hours with her!).

Just by exposing myself to situations and slowly and a little bit at a time, I got myself to where I am now: My emet only shows up in very specific areas, and normally I can work my way through them.

If I were to, again, expose myself to more of those situations, I could further reduce the amount of fear I have. I think that's the best anyone can do at any stage of this phobia, so long it's on their own terms and their own pace.

[rendil]

Oh, and I should also add that gum was my "antiEmet". I chewed it all the time after eating or when I knew I was going to have a panic attack. I was so dependent on it I actually got my first cavity from it, which turned into my first root canal. After that, I also included limiting how much gum I had, and now I only use gum as a last resort. Now I'm trying to expose myself to situations without the gum, so I can further reduce my fear and dependency on something so simple.

[jenny98]

Thanks for the replies! I think I have a mild enough case that I will probably try to expose myself to photos, then videos, etc. I believe my fear stems from not having V* in over twenty years... so fear of the unknown that turned into a specific fear of v*. Thank you all for this webpage! I feel better knowing you are all out there.