A debilitating illness

Emetophobia - the fear of vomiting - is a debilitating illness which can result in huge anxiety and sometimes be the origin of other 'phobias' such as Agoraphobia and Aerophobia. Rarely, it will even engender thoughts of suicide.

It is an illness which can affect all age groups, though it tends to lessen in severity with the passage of time. Several things about Emetophobia can cause surprise:

• That it has a name - most sufferers think they are 'weird' and nobody else has it
• That it is actually quite common; there are probably around 3 million suffers in the UK
• It is almost never associated with an experience of any sort, although most sufferers will claim that in their case, it is.

It actually takes two forms:

• A true phobia
• A version of Obsessive illness

Both these 'versions' have somewhat different characteristics, which can provide sound indicators as to the style of therapy that might be able to help - there is no reliable medical intervention for either.

The Phobia
When Emetophobia is a true phobic response - or even just a profound fear - the sufferer functions perfectly normally at any time other than when they feel nauseous or when they believe that somebody else does. Panic and anxiety then start and hyperventilation and increased metabolic activity will add to the physical sensations. Usually, though by no means always, the sufferer will want somebody to be with them.

The Obsessive illness
In this situation, the behaviour is somewhat different, in that the anxiety is present all the time and not just when the individual is feeling ill; upon awakening in the morning there will be an instantaneous exploration to see if they feel ill. If they do not, then breakfast may be consumed, after which there will be another investigation of self... This process will continue throughout the day and not just after eating; the self checking procedure will be conducted every few minutes in severe cases.

At any time they observe, or believe they observe, that somebody else feels ill, they have a frequently uncontrollable urge to escape and it is not at all unusual for an individual to leave a bus or a train because they are certain that somebody is about to be ill. Their social life is severely limited; eating out is not an option and pubs, clubs, cinemas, theatres and the like are also 'risky' places for the individual suffering obsessive emetophobia. Quite often, in this form there are two other symptoms:

• An excessive need for privacy in the bathroom, particularly for defaecation
• Psychosexual problems, ranging from embarrassment at talking about sex, to outright denial that they ever experience any sexual urges. Interestingly, when the sex life is fulfilling, the illness fades considerably, though it does not usually disappear completely without treatment.

That a sufferer would almost rather die than vomit puts the fear that this form of the illness generates into perspective.

Treatment
Where the condition is phobic, it is easier to treat than otherwise and will often respond to relatively brief therapy, perhaps only 4-6 sessions. Where it is an obsessive condition, however, the situation is quite different and treatment might take longer.

It is vital that if you attend for therapy sessions, the therapist must be experienced in working with this illness if you are to guarantee that the therapy will not worsen the condition. An experienced therapist is trained in how to accurately assess the exact style of therapy that is needed to achieve the best result.

Although many therapies might be put forward as being able to 'cure' this problem, it is really only the psychologically based therapies - Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy - that are properly suited for the work.

This is where new products will be announced as they become available!

The new 7 Ways and 7 Days to banish your anxiety! book will be available early in 2012

It will give you a step-by-step programme to deal with your anxiety from the the place where it starts - your subconscious.

In the meantime, visit our Help pages!