The disorder called emetophobia, or stated simply, the fear of vomit is a serious condition affecting quite a lot of people. But with the shame that sufferers feel over the fact that they fear this, it is usually held secret, thus few people are aware that this condition even exists.
In fact, it’s estimated to be the 5th commonest phobia. Treatment can be found, but little is still known in general about emetophobia.
The fear sneaks into almost all aspects of an emetophobe’s daily activities, since it seriously limits their ability to calmly perform normal activities like the rest of the population can. It’s hard to picture for someone that is not emetophobic himself or herself to really get an idea of what an effect it actually leaves on one’s life – sometimes the phobia overrides all other parts of a sufferer’s life.
When an emetophobic person walks into a public restroom, he or she doesn’t see a restroom. He or she sees a room where many others very probably have been right before them, and some of those people might have gotten sick. Thoughts jump around wildly for an emetophobia sufferer.
They are afraid that the person who visited the same stall immediately before might have had a serious disease. Because if they also picked it up, it might happen that she also falls ill and vomits. That’s an incredible stress to bear.
All of the things in a restroom can be a source of distress – the door handles. The people who have touched it might have had serious illnesses.
The sink – it could be that somebody vomited into the sink, leaving it full of germs. What if while being in a stall, someone else runs up into the restroom and throws up in the next stall?
This is only a couple examples of the kind of pressure which emetophobes are under even while doing things that to us seem mundane and doable. But to someone who cannot bear any threat of vomit or simply sickness, it can often be traumatic.
If you want to explore more about effective means to treat Fear of Vomiting, then go here: Vomit Phobia.