Emetophiba Therapy

If you're struggling with Emetophobia (fear or being sick) get in touch today and see how hypnotherapy can help you overcome your fears.

Emetophobia Cure

The recent outbreak of stomach bugs is a problem for those suffering with emetophobia – or the fear of being sick.

According to the International Emetophobia Society the fear of being sick is the fifth most common phobia. It is an extremely debilitating and disabling condition. An Emetophobe’s life is dominated by irrational thoughts and actions. Sadly, some women even deny themselves motherhood for fear of morning sickness and some sufferers become housebound.

Emetophobia is rarely spoken of partly because of the nature of the subject – it is unpleasant and ‘dirty’ and victims are acutely embarrassed.

Also, fear of being sick is often ‘cloaked’ by another phobias. Many people come to me for help with fear of flying, but during therapy, it emerges that their fear is not of flying, but of being sick and embarrassed.

Courses to conquer fear of flying often concentrate on the safety of planes. But reassurances about physics and the mechanics of planes don’t help an emetophobe. Claustrophobia and social phobias are other examples of fears that ‘cloak’ emetophobia, if I ask: “Why don’t you like crowded rooms?” the reply might be: “If I feel sick, I can’t get out in time and I’ll throw up in front of everybody!”

I have treated many emetophobes and people with symptoms of emetophobia and the fear of being sick at my hypnotherapy clinic near Norwich, Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Most sufferers are female who have had symptoms since their youth.

Some have wasted years avoiding situations where either they or someone around them could become ill. Because of the extreme lengths they go to avoid sickness most of my clients have not been sick since childhood.

Indeed most boast how long it is since the last time they were sick. Those with a mild phobia have anxious thoughts while eating. Some suffer so severely they refuse to leave their home. Some sufferers experience discomfort almost all the time, others just in response to direct stimuli. Sometimes the phobia hides for years until something triggers it to show itself.

Emetophobia cure

Typically an emetophobe displays some or all of the following tendencies:

  • Probably female, below average weight.
  • Eats out in restaurants very rarely and when doing so is very choosy – avoiding chicken, spicy or unusual cuisines.
  • Does not drink or restricts themselves to a single glass of wine.
  • Does not like pubs or clubs
  • Dislikes dinner parties, weddings, social events and crowded rooms which can lead to anxiety / panic attacks.
  • Eat little in public and sit near a door.
  • Frequently checks sell-by dates on food packaging
  • Avoids flying and travelling by boat.
  • Avoids public transport, preferring to travel by car and drive
  • If they can visit a cinema / theatre, they would insist on sitting at the end of a row.
  • Avoids pregnancy fearing morning sickness and also fear of having a child and not being able to care for them if they were to become sick.
  • Avoids anyone with a real or imagined sickness bug – either within their own environment or in public places.
  • Very aware of vomit on pavements

Therapy for Emetophobia

The choice of therapy to help your fear of being sick is going to depend on just how much the problem is affecting your day-to-day life, and also how long you have been suffering from the problem.
Ruth Watson is able to offer three principle techniques for helping you to resolve your issues:

Clinical Hypnosis for Emetophobia

If your Sickness Phobia is “relatively” minor and only affects you now and again, then you may have found that you have been able to tolerate the feelings that you have experienced. In these circumstances I would normally recommend just one or two sessions of Clinical Hypnosis (Suggestion Therapy) as this particular technique has an excellent track record in these cases.

Cognitive Processing and Integration Therapy for Emetophobia

If your Emetophobia issues are more significant (most likely to be the case with this condition) and they are having a seriously disruptive effect on your life, then you may wish to consider a technique such as Cognitive Processing & Integration Therapy. This type of therapy can help you to re-process any past situation that may have become “blocked” in your mind leading to a more permanent resolution. Normally CPI takes place over a number of sessions.

The Mindfulness and More Programme for Emetophobia and Fear of Sickness

The very latest, and perhaps most effective way to deal with Emetophobia is to follow a course of the Mindfulness and More Programme. This Mind-Therapy technique helps you to really understand how your “beliefs” have contributed to the way that you feel and in doing so, teaches you how to take control of your thinking and really change the way you “see the world.” This approach utilises a research-backed applied course of Psychology combined with Mindfulness and has been producing excellent results.
Ruth offers both group sessions and one-to-one sessions for this programme.