Emetophobia (fear of vomiting): symptoms, causes and treatment

Both the act of vomiting and vomiting itself are not one of the most pleasant experiences that a person can go through, since they are also usually associated with other discomforts or pains. However, it is a natural act that our body performs when it believes that it must eliminate the agent that causes the discomfort, so it does not always entail some pathology or disease.

However, there are a small number of people who experience an absolute and intense fear of anything related to vomiting. This is known as emetophobia, a type of specific phobia. which we will talk about throughout this article.

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What is emetophobia?

Emetophobia is a psychological condition categorized within the anxiety disorders specific. Like the rest of specific phobias, it is distinguished because the person who suffers from it experiences a deep fear of a specific object, person or situation.

In the specific case of emetophobia, this exacerbated fear is presented before any stimulus related to vomiting

. Although anyone can express feelings of aversion towards him, in emetophobia the person experiences a deep feeling of fear, which is also irrational, uncontrollable and remains throughout the time.

The situations that can cause this anxiety response in the person range from the act of vomiting, both one's own and seeing others vomit, such as the feeling of nausea that precedes vomiting or the vomiting itself per se.

It is estimated that approximately 5% of the world population suffers from this exaggerated fear of vomiting and the behavior of vomiting appearing almost frequently. the same incidence in people of different ages and sexes, having registered cases in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Some of the characteristics shared by most people with emetophobia include anxious personality traits and tending to increase their level of tension and nervousness whenever they are in places such as health centers or with sick people, since they are faced with the possibility of seeing someone vomit.

In the same way, these people tend to alter their eating habits consuming only food with which they are sure not to vomit. On certain occasions, this behavior can become so serious that it often leads to eating disorders such as anorexia.

The reason is that the person restricts the amount of food per day or refuses to eat for fear of vomiting. This appears along with the feeling of anxiety that emetophobia causes every time they go to eat, which turns this act into constant torment and suffering.

What symptoms does this phobia of fear of vomiting present?

Since emetophobia is within the classification of specific phobias or anxiety disorders, its clinical picture is similar to the rest. Symptoms that fall within this diagnosis They can be divided into physical symptomatology, cognitive symptomatology and behavioral symptomatology.

These symptoms can appear both due to the presence of the phobic stimulus, and due to the mere imagination or mental representation of it. As a consequence, the following symptoms may appear in emetophobia, ordered according to the previous categories:

1. physical symptoms

As a consequence of the appearance of the phobic stimulus, in this case any stimulus related to vomiting, hyperactivation of the nervous system occurs. The product of this increase in functioning are all kinds of alterations and changes in the organism.

Among the many physical symptoms that the person may experience include:

• Elevated heart rate.
• Increased respiratory rate.
• Sensation of suffocation, suffocation or lack of air.
• Increased muscle tension.
• headaches.
• Gastric disturbances and stomach pains.
• Increased sweating.
• Dizziness and dizzy feeling.
• Nausea and/or vomiting.
• Loss of consciousness or fainting.

2. cognitive symptoms

Along with physical symptoms, emetophobia is also distinguished by the presence of a whole repertoire of cognitive symptoms, including thoughts, beliefs, and imaginations about possible dangers or harm that vomiting or the act of vomiting can cause.

The development of these distorted ideas and beliefs appear irrationally and uncontrollably, driving the advance of this phobia. To these ideas are added a series of mental images of a catastrophic nature that flood the person's mind.

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3. behavioral symptoms

Finally, the effect of cognitive symptoms is reflected in the appearance of a series of behavioral symptoms. In this case, the symptoms related to the behavior of the person manifest themselves through avoidance behaviors and escape behaviors.

Avoidance behaviors are all those behaviors that the person carries out with the aim of avoiding the phobic stimulus. In this case, the individual may refuse to eat, eat excessively slowly, or eat only a few foods. selected or, refusing to go to a place where you can witness something related to the threw up.

As for escape behaviors, these appear when the person has not been able to avoid encountering any event related to vomiting, so he will carry out all kinds of behaviors that allow him to escape the situation as soon as possible possible.

What are the causes?

Although trying to discover the specific origin of a phobia is quite a complicated task, in the case of emetophobia a large number of Patients report the experience of very unpleasant or dramatic situations in which vomiting or the act of vomiting appeared in one way or another. other.

However, there are many other cases in which the person is unable to associate this fear with any traumatic experienceTherefore, it is hypothesized that there are other factors that may play an important role in the development and appearance of a phobia such as a genetic predisposition or learning by imitation.

Is there a treatment?

In those cases in which the phobia can become highly annoying or even dangerous, the patient can resort to psychological intervention, which can help reduce the intensity of symptoms to the point of making them disappear.

Although there are many interventions and psychological therapies that, carried out by a professional in psychology, can be effective. The cognitive behavioral therapy It is the one that reports the best and fastest results.

This type of therapy usually includes three different and complementary types of actions. On the one hand we find the cognitive restructuring, thanks to which the person manages to modify their distorted thoughts and beliefs.

In addition, exposure techniques are used in vivo or systematic desensitization by which the person gradually copes with the phobic stimulus, either live or using the imagination.

Finally, this is accompanied by training in relaxation skills that allows us to reduce the levels of arousal of the nervous system and encourages the person to face the situation or object feared.