By Steve Rikard in An important step in the process to cure Emetophobia, is learning about and understanding your particular case of Emetophobia. Before you can cure Emetophobia, you first have to know and understand what you are curing. Not every case of Emetophobia is the same. To look at it very generally, each person has different causes and effects of their fear of vomit. What are yours?
What causes YOUR Emetophobia? Was there a specific, traumatic incident when you were younger involving vomit? Did you learn the behavior from your parents? Maybe you never vomited as a kid, and are afraid of the unknown? Your fear could also come from a fear of “losing control” when your body expels things regardless of your will.
In addition, are there certain aspects of vomit and emetophobia that you can deal with, and others you can’t? Can you tolerate seeing cartoon vomit, but not in real life? Do you have no problem with motion sickness, but a fear of drinking alcohol? Do you refuse to eat meat at a public restaraunt, but will eat anything at home? Don’t just accept these things, but instead question them. Why is it that one thing causes you more anxiety than another?
When you know your strengths and weaknesses, as they pertain to Emetophobia, you can take advantage of them. Play to your strengths. Identify what things make your strengths strong, and see if you can apply that kind of thinking to your weaknesses. What things lay on the border of your strengths, but you are not quiet as comfortable with? Can you give some of those things a shot, and maybe learn to accept them, and eventually turn them into strengths?
Understanding your fear of vomit is also important when you seek professional help to cure emetophobia. If you can tell a therapist about your strengths and weaknesses, and identify causes and effects of your Emetophobia than you are starting therapy several steps ahead of everyone else!
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I totally agree with your comment about finding out exactly what level of emetophobia you have, as each emetophobic has a wide range of different symptoms.
Having lived with an emetophobe for the best part of 20 years, she had a bad experience when she first went for therapy. She knew little about her phobia to begin with. The clinical therapist, who was inexperienced in dealing with emetophobia got frustrated with her progress and basically gave up on her. This made her phobia worse, and for a long time mistrusted clinical therapists.
I must stress that this was probably a rare occurrence with a bad therapist, and was a long time ago.
The point being, if you can gather all the facts about your symptoms before you go to therapy, you will have a much greater chance of being successfully treated.
- Paul