Have you (or anyone you know) overcome Emetophobia?

[TheWholeShackShimmies]

How did you do it?

Dd16 suffers very badly from this and it's getting worse. She thinks about it all the time and avoids certain foods, drinks and places due to this fear. I receive WhatsApps and texts from her throughout the day regarding these fears depending on what's occuring during that particular day. This afternoon she is texting me from college, she says she is in tears because a girl in her class was clutching her stomach and had to leave the room to vomit. Dd is now having a panic attack and is convinced she will be sick at some point in the near future.

If she sees anything that even closely resembles vomit on the pavement etc she will have a meltdown, if she feels sicky (usually due to anxiety), she will get herself into quite a state. We have mints/ginger sweets, travel bands, fidget toys etc on hand to distract her but it really is taking over now.

I have registered her for some CBT but there is a waiting list, in the meantime what can I do to help her with this fear? I'll be honest, I struggle to help her think rationally because I have this phobia (due to decades of digestive issues). I naively thought I'd done well concealing it from my dc as ds19 is fine but I feel dreadful that I've passed this on to my dd.

Any advice will be most welcome.

The only thing that has really helped me is meds. Therapy didn't do much at all and I have done all the weird tapping things etc. Maybe at 16 you don't want to go down that road but they have made such a difference to me.

Your poor dd, and you. I've had it severely for a decade and it's completely ruined my life, I was hospitalised and sectioned for 9 months because I couldn't cope with the distress and it made me suicidal.

Meds helped me a lot- I still struggle but it's manageable now. Also really decent exposure therapy, I had mine privately by someone whose company is in London but they also do it online, if you want a recommendation.

My teen daughter was just like this, she had a few sessions with a hypnotherapist and it’s so much more under control now.

Thanks everyone.

My 13 year old is suffering from this . Someone threw up at a cheerleading competition a while back and she has been bad ever since . Her sister had a sickness bug last week and she wouldn’t leave her room . She is having cbt for some anxiety issues so hoping it helps this too .

Yes. I had severe emetophobia for decades, especially bad at the same age as your DD. I did various therapies like talking, CBT starting from age 17. Sadly those weren't particularly helpful. The only one that was reasonably efffective was the Thrive Program by Rob Kelly. It enables you to understand why the phobia works and tackles areas of your life contributing to it (eg low self esteem).

Interestingly, what helped a lot was the realisation that I was undiagnosed neurodivergent (ADHD, possibly AuDHD) my entire life. That played a huge factor into the thinking patterns and behaviour that fed into the phobia. I'm convinced if the ADHD had been discovered and medicated earlier in my life, the emetophobia would not have become so severe. So if ND is a potential issue with your daughter, please look into that.

The Thrive program helped me enough to get over my fear of pregnancy and birth (didn't end up being sick during either) and having a baby really helped to desensitise me from sickness and bugs. So now the phobia barely has an effect on my life. I can travel, eat outside the house, take care of my kid, go to play dates etc without any problems. The last panic attack I had was over 6 years ago.

I wouldn't say I'm fully cured but it doesn't have any significant impact on my life anymore. Just like alcoholism or eating disorders, I think the thoughts around being sick never really leave you but they eventually just stay in your head. The important part is understanding why the phobia forms (Thrive program is much more helpful than CBT) and then tackling the thought patterns that feed into this.

There is hope but your daughter has to want to recover. I reached a point in my 20s where I realised I can't go on living like this because everything made me panic. I was housebound for days due to fear of catching norovirus and my diet was atrocious because I could only eat safe carby foods like crisps, chocolate bars and bananas.

Yes! I had very severe emetophobia, anxiety disorder and associated agoraphobia in my teens. I mean really severe - at its worst I wouldn't leave the house for months and months at a time. I was having panic attacks every day and waking up in the midst of them every night. I didn't do my GCSEs or A Levels because of it - this lasted between the ages of 15-20. I was utterly convinced my life would amount to nothing as a result of it and was deeply depressed.

I can't really say what changed because I don't know, but something clicked when I was 20/21ish and the clouds slowly lifted. I was panicking less, going out more and just having fewer intrusive thoughts. I'd started doing an Open University degree when my agoraphobia was at its worst and that helped give me some hope for the future. I had therapy with a psychologist which didn't do an awful lot when I was at my worst, but group therapy CBT as I was starting to get slightly better may have had some effect.

I think the main thing that helped was the natural calming of my teenage hormones as I got older, and the intense desire I had to get out and live my life. I as desperate to do more, which acted as a type of self-driven CBT.

I wish I could go back in time and show the completely broken, anguished, hopeless young me how things would change. I got my OU degree, went and did an MA at another uni, and have got a fantastic career which takes me all over the country and the world. I was drunk on freedom after getting over it all in my 20s and had so many ridiculous and wonderful adventures. I ended up feeling sort of invincible and it served me well..

So in short I don't know exactly what made me overcome emetophobia, but I suppose it was essentially CBT. Largely self-propelled in my case but the group sessions may help too. I DID overcome it though - it was incredibly severe and totally ruled my life for a number of years but I simply don't have it any more. I probably dislike the idea of sickness more than the average person and am a little bit more careful to avoid it than most, but it doesn't stop me doing anything and doesn't preoccupy me in any way. It's not a phobia any more.

I wouldn't say I've totally overcome it but I'm much better than I was. About 20 years ago it was terrible. I'd constantly be on my guard, wouldn't eat chicken or other certain foods and would panic if someone even saud they had been or feel unwell. Mine started after a horrid stomach bug I had, I developed ibs and general anxiety alongside it.
I'm much better now but it's still there a bit. I have 2 young kids and as you can imagine have had to deal with them being unwell. I've also caught what they've had and have had to deal with that as well. I still can't watch it on tv and try and keep my distance if I know someone has had a stomach bug which isn't easy with young kids.
CBT is a good therapy for this. Twenty years ago there seemed to be little understanding about it whereas now there is much more understanding. I personally didn't have therapy specifically for this but have done cbt.