I recently heard a great acronym for emetophobia, or the fear of vomiting. As I have discussed before, a phobia by definition is an irrational fear of something. Your brain has been conditioned through extreme circumstances to fear vomit, as a part of a natural reaction to protect you from previous traumatic experiences. The only [...]
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Two Reasons People Fear Throwing Up
November 17th, 2011 
Steve Rikard Many emetophobes do not understand why it is that they fear throwing up. You may have felt this way for as long as you can remember. However, understanding why you have a fear of throwing up is a very important step in overcoming emetophobia. There are two main schools of thought regarding how emetophobia is [...]
Do You Fear Sick People?
November 2nd, 2011 Steve Rikard Are you afraid of sick people? If someone has the flu, is feeling a little under the weather, or has a family member who is sick, do you avoid seeing them? This is not uncommon. People living with emetophobia often fear sick people. In fact, it is probably the most common manifestation of this vomiting [...]
Vomit: So Easy a Baby Can Do It
July 18th, 2011 Steve Rikard Switching to Geico: so easy a caveman can do it! My little sister could lift something heaver than that! Using that cell phone is so easy my grandmother could do it! Do statements like these sound familiar? These types of expressions are pretty common, both in day-today-life, and in marketing campaigns such as the Geico [...]
The Problem of Anxiety with Emetophobia
May 28th, 2010 Steve Rikard Anxiety is a mental state of fear or apprehension that can be capable of creating physical side-effects. Anxiety usually arises when people realize that they need to do something that they fear or are uncomfortable with. While a certain degree of anxiety is healthy and normal, serving to keep us alert and focused in response to something that may be difficult, higher degrees of anxiety can indicate a psychological condition. In Emetophobes, anxiety can actually further the problem of nausea and vomiting