They may be due to food allergies, stomach infections, motion sickness, severe pain, or as a side effect of taking medications, among others. Be that as it may, most people have vomited at some point. A situation that is not at all pleasant, but that does not usually pose a major problem. However, this is not the case for people who have emetophobia. It is possibly one of those rare phobias that is not well known, but there are patients who suffer from it and see their lives limited by it.
Emetophobia is nothing more than the irrational fear of vomiting. That is, it consists of an exaggerated fear of both the action of vomiting itself and what the vomiting itself would be like. This dread even extends to nausea, since it represents that sensation that usually precedes this.
The irrational fear of vomiting is an anxiety disorder whose consequences consist of people who manifest it feeling great anxiety towards the phobic object itself as well as the mere possibility of it appearing. The result? Avoidance behaviors to avoid facing it, which entails a series of consequences and limitations in the lives of these people.
Although the official diagnosis must be provided by a medical professional, psychologist Patricia Rosillo indicates how to identify a possible case of emetophobia. One of the ways is to pay attention to the symptoms of the possibility of vomiting, such as palpitations, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, or starting to sweat profusely.
Although one of the clearest examples has to do with behavioral changes. Specifically, becoming obsessed with anything that could pose a risk of vomiting, for example, declining social events or mulling over a restaurant menu thinking about what might be best for your body to prevent vomiting. This implies that food becomes more and more limited, even reducing the quantities.
The psychologist explains that it is not usually easy to determine a single cause that justifies emetophobia. Generally, it could be a bad personal experience, or that of someone close to you, that may have triggered trauma around the event of vomiting and vomiting. This type of anxiety disorder can occur in both children and adults and, in both cases, it will be essential to see a medical professional to treat this problem appropriately.
This irrational fear can be very limiting and bring with it a whole series of negative consequences, both for the mental health and physical health of the people who suffer from it.
