There are two kinds of phobias, rational and irrational. The fear of throwing up phobia is an irrational fear. It is not very common but it is not exactly rare. People of all ages can have this phobia. It doesn’t matter if one is a child, adolescent, young adult, grownup or elderly. Due to limited research on fear of throwing up phobia there is little scientific data and very little social or profiling information that can shed lucid light on the subject.
Understanding Emetophobia
The fear of throwing up phobia is known as emetophobia. The word is a coinage of emesis which is Greek for an act or instance of vomiting and phobia which is Greek for fear. Emetophobia can be best described as a fear of vomiting, a fear of doing so publicly, being terrified or disgusted of having to see vomit or feel moved and shaken at the thought of having to vomit. Everything about vomiting, from the thought to the act, would be realized or looked at with the influence of emetophobia. People with the fear of throwing up phobia are likely to feel nauseated without reason, they may have a tendency to feel the urge to vomit even when they don’t have to or need to and they try to avoid all causes or factors that they think would be associated with vomit or vomiting. The associated factors could be hospitals, food, certain places which are not impeccably clean, dirt, germs, restrooms, public places and even certain objects.
Causes and Treatment
The fear of throwing up phobia doesn’t have any specific cause, at least not one that has been scientifically proven or universally agreed upon by the entire scientific community. What has been agreed on however is that emetophobia stems from at least one traumatic event in a person’s life that is associated with vomit. A person who has a very weak gastrointestinal system will have a tendency to vomit. Such a person may vomit many times, quite regularly, through a certain period of time. That time could be during the childhood, teenage years, adolescence or later. Such traumatic experiences compel the person to have a fear of throwing up phobia because they don’t wish to revisit those moments or experience them again. It is the natural psychological apathy to vomit and the act of vomiting in such cases. The fear of throwing up phobia can be treated.