The Emetophobia Free Podcast

I don't know who I would be without Emetophobia: Emetophobia and the Identity Crisis

EmetophobiaFree

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0:00 | 39:38

This episode centres around the concept of Emetophobia forming part of a person's identity. Identity as defined by Erikson, E. H. (1968), is a coherent sense of self that develops over time.  Once a person has created Emetophobia, it can become all consuming very quickly so that many people start to identify as 'an emetophobe' and then struggle to understand or ever imagine who they could be without it.

Research suggests the mean onset of Emetophobia is age 11 and, if left untreated, almost always continues into adulthood. Meaning by the time they seek treatment, many people have suffered for many years of their life and the fear becomes part of who they identify as. 

As humans we have around 50,000 thoughts a day and for an emetophobia sufferer, around 45,000 of those thoughts are directly or indirectly linked to Emetophobia. This means that they start to perceive the fear as part of themselves; they are someone with Emetophobia or 'an emetophobe' rather than seeing the fear as simply something they are currently creating.

Erin describes her journey with Emetophobia and how her identity was shaped by her struggle. Her parents introduced her as 'shy' and in her younger years she became friends with another girl who also suffered with Emetophobia and they created a shared sense of humour around their phobia. 

At one point Erin struggled to foresee a version of herself without Emetophobia. However, as she worked through the Emetophobia-Free programme, she began to understand that her identity wasn't linked to Emetophobia.  Erin has now liberated herself from her 'emetophobe' identity.

 Erin describes her identity now is an ex-emetophobe, a dance teacher and a thriving person! She now sees her identity as something that is never static, something to nurture, develop and grow and something she excited to keep exploring! She knows she can create whatever identity she wants for herself - she is the author of her own narrative!

Find out more: https://www.emetophobiafree.org
https://linktr.ee/emetophobia

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emetophobiafree​
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Thanks for watching :)

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Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting/sickness: either yourself, other people, or both. Research suggests 0.1 to 8.8% percent of the population have a fear of being sick (Hout & Bouman, 2011). Emetophobia is a debilitating phobia, which significantly impacts your life: sufferers are chronically anxious and go to great lengths to avoid encountering anything sickness-related, which provides temporary relief but often results in a rollercoaster of anxiety, fear and exhaustion. Issues associated with emetophobia include: OCD, eating difficulties, anxiety-related gastric problems, phagophobia, tocophobia and more. Our goal is to raise awareness of this severe phobia and provide a solution for sufferers and their families.  

You do not need to live with Emetophobia - you can COMPLETELY overcome it. The Thrive Programme for Emetophobia (also known as Emetophobia-Free) is the single most successful and predictable method for getting rid of your emetophobia. It has helped over 20,000 emetophobes around the world overcome their phobia.

You can study the programme at home by yourself wi...