What you need to know:
• Most people hate vomiting, but there’s actually a name for the extreme fear of doing it, seeing it, or even hearing it. It’s called emetophobia.
• According to the National Library of Medicine, while it is a very real fear, it only affects .1 percent of the population.
• That’s not to say that most people don’t mind vomiting. It’s very common for children and adults to dislike the act.
• What separates people with a common fear from those with the extreme fear is trauma.
• Emetophobia mostly develops as a result of a traumatic vomiting experience.
• Having a family history of specific phobias or general anxiety disorders can increase your risk.
What the experts are saying:
• Anna S. Christie is a psychotherapist, author and emetophobia specialist. She’s also someone who’s been treated for the fear.
• She says that about 7% of people are generally afraid of vomiting. That amounts to 23 million people in the United States alone.
• She also says about .1-.2 percent of people only seek therapy, and that’s only because living with the fear becomes so debilitating.
• The fear is so extreme in some cases that people will stop eating or leaving their house altogether to avoid any possible situation that could lead them to encountering vomit.
In this episode of Your Weirdest Fears, listen as host Larry Mullins sits down with Anne to discuss her experience with the illness, why it’s so common here in America, and how she teaches people to stomach their fear forever.