Have you ever experienced the fear of vomiting while eating in public?Have you ever avoided eating in public because of this fear? If you are one of these people, you are not alone. According to emetophobia.net, "emetophobia, or the fear of vomiting, affects between 0.1% and 0.2% of the population, which adds up to about 12 million people worldwide. Whether or not they seek treatment depends on its impact on their daily lives, but often people with emetophobia have trouble finding available clinicians with experience in treating emetophobia". The fear of vomiting can have a huge impact on your life, because eating is a big part of our social life - going out with friends, school and work - all of which can involve eating, so getting proper care and treatment is crucial. Emetophobia is under-researched, but Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy are some of the treatments that have been useful in treating the condition. Other treatment options include Morita therapy - a therapy that originated in Japan.
When people suffer from emetophobia (especially from the severe level of emetophobia) it is often the case that they have the belief - I have to eat like a person without such difficulty – like a “normal” person – in front of others. The stronger this belief, the more difficult it is to sit at the lunch table and to talk with friends and colleagues. It is important to identify the triggering experience in the past, begin to look at the worries and fears that underlie the fear of vomiting, and to learn not to define oneself by how well one copes with eating situations. Once you are able to stop forcing yourself to be “normal” in eating situations and work on your striving to to be “normal,” which then allows you to be more yourself around eating, you can open yourself up to many more opportunities to achieve your underlying desires in your life. This process can be done safely with the help of an experienced therapist. If you would like to learn more about the Morita Therapy approach and the combined approach with Morita Therapy and CBT, please contact Kokoro Therapy Helsinki. The door is open to you.
Refefence:
Comments