Vomit Phobia

 

 

Linda Atkinson worked at the Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit in the UK with Dr David Veale, a world expert on vomit phobia   Consequently, she developed specialist expertise in the assessment and treatment of vomit phobia using cognitive behavioural therapy.  

 

Please contact Linda Atkinson if you would like to discuss the possibilty of treatment

 

Vomit phobia (also known as emetophobia) is an extreme fear of vomiting or a fear of others vomiting. The fear causes distress and significantly interferes with a person's life. Vomit phobia is thought to affect about 0.02 % of the population; however this maybe an underestimation because many people hide the problem out of embarrassment. 

The fear of vomiting is usually on the forefront of a persons mind and is often linked to beliefs about loss of control, a fear of fainting or being seen as repulsive. A person with vomit phobia frequently has a need for certainty and often over-estimates the likelihood of illness and vomiting. It is also associated with a belief that a person must do all that they can to prevent the likelihood of becoming ill and vomiting. 

People with vomit phobia try too hard to decrease the risk of vomiting by engaging in a series of "safety behaviours". Safety behaviours are thought by the person with vomit phobia to reduce the risk of vomiting and include excessive washing and cleaning, checking sell by dates, asking others for reassurance and demanding others to tell them if people are sick. Safety behaviours also include scanning for danger, weighing up risks of harm and avoiding places, people and objects associated with illness or vomiting. 

Research on CBT for vomit phobia has shown that these 'safety behaviours' are actually a huge part of the problem and reinforce the preoccupation and beliefs associated the phobias survival.