Tools for Managing Emetophobia and Living a Fulfilling Life

As an OCD therapist, it's important to practice what you preach.

Overcoming fears like emetophobia often takes a lot of courage.

There are so many phobias out there! From claustrophobia (fear of tight spaces), arachnophobia (fear of spiders), lilapsophobia (fear of tornadoes; stay tuned for an upcoming episode on this one!) and today, I’m talking about emetophobia (the fear of throwing up.)

We can all relate to how horrible a stomach virus is! Whenever you are hit with the stomach bug, it feels like there is no other worse feeling than that!

Someone with emetophobia has an intense fear of vomiting. So much so that:

• You ask your family if they have been sick because heaven forbid you catch their stomach virus

• Avoid certain foods (cough cough pickles)

• You don’t eat to fullness because you don’t like to feel remotely close to nausea; that feeling is too close for comfort

• And more….

Helpful tips:

• Mindfulness and relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises or meditation, can help calm the mind and reduce anxiety symptoms.

• Keeping a diary of your thoughts and feelings related to vomiting can also be helpful in identifying patterns and triggers that contribute to your fear.

• Physical exercise.

• A healthy diet

• Good sleep hygiene are all important aspects of maintaining overall mental health and well-being.

• Last but not least: exposure therapy.

Exposure therapy aims to help individuals confront their fears in a safe way, ultimately reducing anxiety and intrusive thoughts. With the right treatment and support, you can learn to manage your fear of vomiting and regain control over your thoughts and behaviors. If you're struggling with emetophobia, know that there is help available. You can schedule a consult and start your path to wellness today.

Transcript:

Emetophobia

​[00:00:00]

We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts and urges about your partner or loved one.

Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to nocd.com to get evidence-based treatment.

 Do you worry about getting sick? And I'm not talking about the kind of sick where you have a headache or fever. I'm talking about the kind of sick where you're nauseous to your stomach. Yeah, where you have that eternal worry about having a stomach virus.

Today, Today's episode is going to be about emetophobia. We're going to be talking about what is emetophobia, the difference between a phobia versus OCD, [00:01:00] and how to get emetophobia treated. If you are overly triggered by hearing about vomiting or throwing up. you are more than welcome to go back to my previous episodes where you can learn about relationship OCD, health OCD, religious OCD, or if you want to learn about mindfulness, I've got those episodes published and out there for you.

So let's get started in learning about all things a metaphobia

 Hi, I'm Erin, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and OCD Specialist. I'm also a wife, mom to three, and small business owner, helping those who are spiraling from intrusive thoughts to come out of that valley with long term recovery and self awareness. Reheat your coffee and pop in your AirPods to learn how to Boss Up to OCD.

All right, y'all we are coming up to the last [00:02:00] day in the month of May Can you believe it like where has the time gone. We are almost halfway through the year of 2024, and it feels like time has just flown by. as a recap, for the month of May, it was Mental Health Awareness Month, and there's a bunch ofcauses that are raising awareness so I'm just going to list a few, some of them were Jewish American Heritage Month, Lupus Awareness Month, Fibromyalgia Awareness Month, Celiac Disease Awareness Month.

There's also Pet Cancer Awareness Month. So my heart goes out to any pets that may suffer from cancer. within the month of May, we had different awareness weeks. So we had National Nurses Week.

We had Teacher Appreciation Week. So there's just a lot happening in May and probably a lot of kids are getting out of school by now too. So And a lot of you probably opened your pools over [00:03:00] Memorial Day weekend. We're out on the lake. We're in the water.

All the fun things are coming. Summer is such a fun time of year.

what I love about these awareness months is that it is leading people to be open minded about other causes, other conditions out there. And so if you're listening to this episode today, I can tell that you're already an open minded person or you're willing and open to learning new things or hearing about other things. All right. With emetophobia, It is challenging to deal with, so let's talk about what emetophobia is. Emetophobia is whenever you have an intense irrational fear of throwing up. And so much so that your fear or your response doesn't match the actual threat or danger.

 we've all experienced an intense fear here and there.

 so if you're here today and you suffer from [00:04:00] emetophobia or maybe your daughter or loved one suffers from emetophobia, you are more than welcome to schedule a consult with me by going to my website at value driven therapy. com and click book your consult. I love working with emetophobia patients. So let me tell you what, a phobia is.

It's an intense, irrational fear of something. Now that something could be an object, it could be a situation, or an activity, Where your fear is out of proportion to the actual danger that the situation poses. you're going to have the intense fear and you're probably going to avoid that thing.

So let's say, for example, you have. A fear of heights, you have that phobia of heights, so you will probably never go on a ladder, you won't even take one step on a ladder if you have a really intense fear of heights, or maybe you have a social phobia, where you won't go out in certain situations because of fear of judgment, [00:05:00] embarrassment.

Or maybe you have a fear of needles and so you vow that you will never get a shot if you are awake and aware. someone with emetophobia, that's when they have an intense fear of throwing up. They very much avoid situations where they may come in contact with vomit, so they'll never be a nurse or a doctor, what have you.

maybe they have an intense fear of throwing up themselves, so they're going to try to avoid. Foods maybe that have made them throw up before.

they may avoid being around people who have had the stomach bug.

That's what emetophobia is and just a simplistic version of what it looks like. Now, someone with OCD, when it comes to the emetophobia realm, remember with obsessive compulsive disorder, you are experiencing intrusive thoughts

and those intrusive thoughts are the unwanted involuntary [00:06:00] thoughts that just pop into your head. No matter what you do, and they're very distressing, meaning they stress you out and like you're not trying to think about the thing, but it just happens. The second thing that happens within OCD is that you're having behaviors.

In other words, the compulsions that are leading you to try to stave off this fear. there are lots of examples as far as the behavior part. I've heard so many versions of how people are taking action to try to keep themselves safe from throwing up.it could be that you're not eating to fullness.

what happens is the person is not wanting to eat to fullness because it gives them just this bloated, uncomfortable feeling that makes them. think that they might throw up. And, you know, we've all been there. I mean, even just recently with the Memorial Day cookouts.

Like, there's hamburgers and [00:07:00] hot dogs and chips and dip and all the fruit and things. it's so easy to overeat

and you eat to that point of fullness where you're like, Oh my gosh, I don't want to eat again for days and then three hours later you're hungry again. You know, but someone with emetophobia, they're not going to eat to fullness.

therefore, it could lead to other problems like they're losing weight. you're probably thinking, well, Erin, losing weights, uh, doesn't sound so bad. I would love to lose weight. But, the problem is, they're low on their calorie intake, they're low on their nutrition, they're not getting enough vitamins, nutrients, their blood sugars all over the place, I've, gotten plenty of referrals from primary care doctors who have said that their patients

are struggling to maintain weight and wellness because of their fear of throwing up.

Which reminds me, when it comes to eating disorders, [00:08:00] emetophobia is very different. So someone with anorexia, they are restricting their eating because of a, Feared outcome of Quote on quote being fat, right? or someone judging them for their weight. The OCD person who has emetophobia, their feared outcome is the fear of throwing up.

So it's just a very different presentation and that's another distinction in how someone with emetophobia will show up in my office when we're working with OCD. So, the other behaviors that can show up under emetophobia, and I've heard, again, all kinds, it can be rational or irrational.

 someone has said that they were wearing their grandmother's bracelet every day. And they had to wear it every day in order to keep themselves well. The other things they do, it's, Oh, I have to sleep on a certain side of the bed or I have to say my [00:09:00] prayers a certain way so that I don't get sick.

Or I need to double check with the people in my circle that they're not sick because Heaven forbid they're sick, that means I could potentially get sick too. And all in all, it's emetophobia and the OCD stuff, both Sets are experiencing problems in their daily life.

So think about how if you're that person who very much has a fear of throwing up and you're at that 4th of July cookout or that Thanksgiving dinner and you're not sitting close to people because you're worried about catching germs that are going to make you sick or you're not eating a full plate of food or you're not eating Let's just say a reasonable amount of food, people will ask questions.

 isn't that so annoying when people ask you about your food choices? It's like, just mind your own business. reminds me of my episode last week where I was saying people need to stay in their lane. But isn't it so true, [00:10:00] though? Like, why do people care what we eat? Like, it's not going in your stomach, so you've been there though, right?

Where you order something off the menu and people look at you like, Why did you order that? It's like, well, because I like it! Duh! Or, just raising awareness here, like, maybe you're that person with celiac disease who has to have a gluten free diet. Whatever your problem is. Food choices are. Wouldn't it be nice if people just respected them?

Didn't ask questions? Let's just move on with our conversation. We don't need to focus on my food choices. Thank you very much.

Okay, as a recap, emetophobia and OCD are different in that a phobia includes Avoidance and Irrational Fears. With OCD, it includes, yes, some avoidance and irrational fears, but on top of that, you will also experience the intrusive thoughts, the [00:11:00] compulsions, and a lot of time being eaten up in these worries, or the compulsions, or all of the above.

 Normally when I'm speaking to someone in a consult, they're in that all of the above category. They're like, oh my gosh, this fear is feeding other fears and the like.

 Now, what they have in common between emetophobia and OCD is, guess what? They are both treated with exposure and response prevention. And let me tell you with exposure and response prevention, I will never ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself.

And that reminds me of a story from the chief medical director at NOCD. that's Dr. Patrick McGrath. He was so funny in this training he gave. He was talking about how back in the day, which he never had a liking for slaw, but his mother offered him slaw. And so he thought, Uh, whatever. I guess I'll have some.

Well, turned out, it [00:12:00] ended up making him super sick. He was throwing up and was like, oh my gosh, I never want to have slaw again. But, as the story goes, when you're an OCD therapist, you will never ask your patients to do anything you would not do yourself. So he gets into the therapy world and he has to challenge his own avoidance.

So what does he do? He has SLAW again. He's not thrilled about it, not happy about it, but he does it just to Not be a hypocrite. Bottom line. yeah, I think we can all relate to those moments where we've eaten something in our life, we get sick, and we're like, ugh, never again. And like, that's reasonable.

Reasonable. But are you having nightmares about it? Are you avoiding people who, have the stomach virus or have had the stomach virus after more than enough time has passed [00:13:00] with the contagiousness. You know what I'm saying? Like, is there parts of your life that have become unreasonable with the avoidance, with the obsessions,

and with the control? OCD is the king of doubt and wants to take control of everything and, you know, Really, at the end of the day, you feel so out of control. And so, your OCD has attached to this fear of throwing up, and enough said, right? Like your whole day is consumed about not wanting to puke or get sick.

 We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.

If you think [00:14:00] you may be struggling with Relationship OCD, contact KnowCD. There's hope. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. NOCD therapists are trained in exposure response prevention therapy, the gold standard treatment for OCD. With NOCD, you can do virtual, live, face to face video sessions with one of their licensed specialty trained therapists.

It's affordable and they accept most major insurance plans. Breaking the relationship OCD cycle takes effective treatment. To get started with NoCD, go to nocd. com slash savage.

 And to be honest, in doing this work, It was my own exposure talking with patients for an hour at a time about puking. Typically, that's not a normal conversation. It definitely took some getting used to. At this stage of my career, my patients are like, Erin, you don't seem to be bothered at all

And I'm like, yeah, it comes with [00:15:00] experience. I mean, it's really exposure for both of us because we're both having to talk about an unpleasant experience that we can both relate to.

 vomiting is not fun for anybody. I don't care who you are. It is not fun. Super duper terrible.

Let's talk about what some of those exercises might look like if you're working with an OCD specialist. Again, it's important to find someone who is experienced in working with OCD as well as emetophobia because It does take a specialized approach to getting you better.

I have heard from one other OCD expert that emetophobia is one of the hardest conditions to treat with OCD, and I can understand why. Now, let me tell you this, I am the type of therapist that I'm going to do Exposure exercises that are within [00:16:00] our normal day to day activities. I will never ask you to force yourself to throw up. There are some OCD therapists out there who do that. And, or, they will ask you to take a medication that will force you to throw up.

So, I'm not about that. I don't think we need to do that to help you get over this fear of throwing up.

First exposure might look like just having that conversation about it, because, yeah, it is. normally a conversation you don't talk about with anyone else unless you're asking them if they feel sick or they kind of know what your fears are. So in your family life or with your friends, they may know about your qualms and like your phobia.

So they avoid talking about it, but you and I, we're going to talk about it and we're going to talk about it in stages. where you can handle it.

 as we are talking about your fear of vomiting and puking and all the things, We may [00:17:00] increase the details as we discuss those stories or scenarios.

Other exposures may include you reading about, , vomiting. So you might be looking up stories on Reddit where people are talking about how they threw up or they got sick.

Another exposure exercise looks like watching videos of people getting sick. Again, I will not ask you to do anything. I would not do myself. it's unpleasant to watch, yet very effective in helping you.

We could introduce new foods.

like going back to Dr. Patrick McGrath's example, he had not eaten slaw for years because it had made him sick before. if you're in that camp of having a bad experience with the food, We will go back and have you eat a small amount until eventually you can work your way up in eating bigger amounts.

Ultimately, what we're [00:18:00] trying to do is desensitize your fear of the unknown and help you tolerate doing things that you wouldn't typically do. We could listen to audio recordings of people throwing up or like people gagging.

This is where we would start small and work our way up to more and more exposures depending upon how much you could handle. And with any exposure you're going to be talking with your OCD specialist about Where you are with your anxiety level and if you've listened to any of my previous episodes I used the scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest amount of stress, 1 is little to no stress So let's say you start at an 8 If we're listening to sounds or watching a video, what have you, we're going to continue to be in that space until your stress comes down to a four, and then we'll take a break.

We call that the work zone. From the time you [00:19:00] are triggered to the time that your stress comes down by half, that's your work zone. All right,

here's another scenario. Let's say you're a college aged person. Okay.

if you're in college, you have a roommate, let's say they're getting, sick you would challenge yourself to help that person through their sickness. Maybe you're giving them a cold rag to put on their forehead, or you're asking them if they need a Gatorade, or something like that.

But you're gonna tend to your roommate or your friend who has vomited. So we're not going to avoid your friend.

This would all be within reason. I'm not asking you to expose yourself to a contagious situation and if you have any immune issues, of course, double check with your medical doctor before engaging in any type of exercise like that. Alright, another scenario here. [00:20:00] We may have you spin in a chair to the point of dizziness or nausea. So then you can get that sensation of feeling ill.

This will again help you in desensitizing from that physical sensation that happens whenever you're We're about to be sick.

There might be other like nausea inducing scenarios Where I will encourage you to put yourself in that situation Like some people they can't handle seeing someone else throw up

and I remember a time going to New York now with a party of people who One person in particular cannot handle the sight of vomit. And I saw, oh my gosh, we're like in the subway and y'all know that there are homeless people in New York and things happen, right? Life happens. And this homeless guy just [00:21:00] projectile vomited.

in the subway and I was like, oh boy, oh my goodness, we, need to go. Like, that was a lot. , if you're someone with OCD, you might have a hard time using the subway again or even thinking about that New York trip. So, we may imagine it or you know, ask you to go back, or to be in a place where someone else might vomit.

another option we can do is creating fake vomit. so we may make fake vomit and that recipe could include having water, slime, Oatmeal, possibly some food coloring, or some small bits of food, like corn and peas and carrots and you would work your hands in it. I bet so many of my listeners are like, aye, aye, aye, stop already. I get it. And I [00:22:00] totally understand that these exposure exercises can be challenging.

And I want to encourage you that with the right amount of persistence and support, you can significantly reduce your symptoms and fears of emetophobia. Last but not least, we will role play you throwing up or me, you know, whichever, maybe both, but we'll take like a bottle of water into the bathroom

Where you're going to do the gagging and pretending that you're throwing up. So we're going to be in that imaginary headspace of you're sick, and you're throwing up, and there's nothing you can do except let the process take its course.

All right, that's a wrap for this episode about emetophobia.

if you've experienced a moment that triggered your intense emotions and intrusive thoughts around vomiting, you're not alone. These moments are [00:23:00] uncomfortable. and are a natural part of life. However, we don't want to discount having the right tools and support to help you manage your emotional and mental health effectively.

That's why I'm inviting you to take the next step and be proactive in your mental health by scheduling a free therapy consultation with me. If you're located in North Carolina or Virginia, Virginia. I can provide you with the strategies and support that you need so that you can navigate and overcome these emotional challenges with a meta phobia.

That way you can lead a more balanced and peaceful.

Don't let these unexpected moments or these intrusive thoughts control your emotional and mental well being. Go to my website at ValueDrivenTherapy. com and click book your consult to start your journey towards mental wellness and resilience today.

We're partnering with [00:24:00] NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts and urges about your partner or loved one.

Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to nocd.com to get evidence-based treatment.

Come back next week where I'm going to be honoring Pride Month by starting the month off with the sexual orientation OCD subtype.

 Thank you for listening to another episode of Bossing Up Overcoming OCD. This information is intended to be helpful and not a substitute for professional counseling. If you're struggling with any mental health challenges, I encourage you to seek help from a qualified therapist or healthcare professional.

 If you enjoyed today's episode, please [00:25:00] take a moment to rate and review the show. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and don't forget to check out the affiliate links in the show notes for hand picked recommendations that can brighten your day.

Your support through these links helps keep the show running and provide valuable content. You're not alone in your journey. Stay strong, stay resilient, and keep bossing up. See you next time.