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​When the Fear of Vomiting Starts to Take Over Your Life

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Emetophobia is an intense fear of vomiting, feeling nauseous, seeing someone else vomit, or being in situations where vomiting might happen. For some people, the fear is about getting sick themselves. For others, it may involve fear of other people getting sick, germs, food, stomach sensations, or being unable to escape if nausea shows up. Emetophobia can become incredibly exhausting. What may start as avoiding one food, one place, or one situation can slowly grow. People may begin scanning their body for nausea, avoiding restaurants, limiting travel, skipping social plans, or only eating foods that feel “safe.”

Over time, life can start to feel smaller.

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Emetophobia may include:

• Avoiding foods, restaurants, travel, school, work, or social events

• Checking expiration dates, food preparation, or body sensations

• Avoiding people who may be sick

• Using safety behaviors to try to prevent nausea or vomiting

• Panic symptoms when stomach sensations show up

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For children and teens, emetophobia can also affect the whole family. Parents may find themselves making separate meals, giving frequent reassurance, changing plans, or helping their child avoid triggers. These responses are understandable, but over time they can give anxiety more control.

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Evidence-based treatment for emetophobia

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Emetophobia is treatable. At NCE Wellness, Laurie Schlosser, MA, LP provides evidence-based treatment using approaches such  as. Exposure and Response Prevention therapy, or ERP, and SPACE, a parent-based treatment for childhood anxiety and OCD. Treatment helps clients understand how emetophobia grows. It helps clients reduce avoidance and safety behaviors, build acceptance of body sensations, and return to the parts of life that fear has limited. The goal is to help people build a life where they choose what they do — not the fear directs.

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Support for parents of children and teens with Emetophobia

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For children and teens with emetophobia, SPACE helps parents support their child by changing responses to their response to anxiety. Parents learn how to reduce accommodations, respond to reassurance-seeking, communicate confidence, and help their child build independence and flexibility. Having the child in individual therapy and parents participating in SPACE often helps accelerate progress  SPACE can also be done when a child is not ready or willing to fully participate in therapy, because parents can begin making changes that support recovery.

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Expanding your life so you can do what matters

Emetophobia can affect school, work, friendships, travel, parenting, and daily routines. But it does not have to keep controlling your life.

With evidence-based treatment, people can learn to face fear in a supported way, reduce the patterns that keep emetophobia strong, and begin to feel more free again.

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NCE Wellness provides evidence-based treatment for emetophobia for children, teens, adults, and families.