People with emetophobia have an obsessive fear of vomiting or being around someone who might vomit. This fear is unreasonable in the sense that it invades mental activity in an irrational way and is accompanied by anxiety and avoidance behavior.
Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting. Patients who suffer from it have different apprehensions associated with the fear of vomiting. These appendages take different forms: fear of gastroenteritis epidemics, fear of overeating or eating spoiled food, fear of transport, etc “The person suffering from emetophobia is a prisoner of his own trap: when she is afraid to vomit, nausea occurs as a result of her anxiety, which predict that she is going to vomit, which worries her” explains Dr. Gérard Macqueron, psychiatrist in Paris. Advice.
The fear of vomiting is called emetophobia.
Fear of vomiting is the unreasonable fear of vomiting or being in contact with someone who is likely to vomit. “Vomiting is a very important defense mechanism for our body because it allows us to reject spoiled or toxic food. This is why it is naturally accompanied by an instinctive reaction of disgust and unpleasant bodily sensations. However, the disgust reaction is not normally accompanied by panic and any digestive symptoms do not induce vomiting” explains Dr. Gérard Macqueron, psychiatrist in Paris.
The causes of emetophobia are multiple: genetic background, upbringing or traumatic event related to an episode of vomiting. “Nevertheless, there are certain cases of emetophobia following a traumatic episode related to vomiting such as having suffered a chemotherapy anti-cancer drug associated with very painful digestive disorders, to have experienced a gastroenteritis particularly serious or to have witnessed suffocation by inhalation of vomit” comments the psychiatrist. More rarely, the fear of vomiting testifies to a social phobia : the person dreads the gaze of others and their judgment if they were to vomit.
“The problem is that anxiety can itself induce a nauseous state”
People with emetophobia have an obsessive fear of vomiting or being around someone who might vomit. That fear is unreasonable in the sense that it invades the mental activity in an irrational way and is accompanied by a anticipatory anxiety and of avoidance behaviors.
► The person focuses their attention on the slightest symptom (nausea, intestinal gurgling, unpleasant smell, etc.) which could be the harbinger of vomiting.
► The person avoids places where they might vomit or being in contact with someone who vomits (restaurants, countries where hygiene criteria are lower, anyone suffering from gastroenteritis, the hospital, the waiting room of a doctor’s office, a regurgitating baby, contact with animals, etc.). “The evocation of vomiting or the appearance of digestive symptoms provoke real panic attacks which force the person to leave the place where they are. The problem is that anxiety can itself induce a nauseous state, the person suffering from emetophobia is trapped in his own trap: when she is afraid to vomit, nausea occurs as a result of her anxiety, which predict that she is going to vomit, which worries her. Then appears the fear of fear. Thus, more often than not, it is not the fear of choking while vomiting or suffering from a serious illness that conditions emetophobia but rather the fear of experiencing a panic attack and losing control and over the anxious reaction and vomiting, emphasizes the specialist.
The management is similar to that used in panic disorders, namely a Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy to help the patient confront his fears by following an adapted and individualized exposure program with a therapist who will gradually desensitize the patient. “If emetophobia is related to a traumatic event, then EMDR is the technique of choice which allows digest the traumatic event by giving the patient the opportunity to relive the traumatic event in an altered state of consciousness in order to process the emotional reaction and cognitive biases that had set in” adds Dr Gérard Macqueron. Occasionally, we can rely on an antidepressant treatment that will reduce anxiety and will help the patient deal with feared social situations. It’s important to don’t be ashamed of this disease and talk about it to his relatives or to professionals for help because it can quickly become disabling if it is not taken care of correctly.
Hypnosis is also found to be very effective in reducing panic attacks related to the phobia of vomiting.
Thanks to Dr Gérard Macqueron, psychiatrist and co-author of the book “How to overcome shyness” and collective work “The Psychology Guide to Everyday Life” written under the direction of Christophe André published by Odile Jacob.