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First check where the nearest toilet is or do not dare to leave the door. The fear of vomiting has severely limited Danielle in her life.
Danielle (32), mother of a son of 5:
“When I was about two years old, my father vomited very much in front of me. He had an alcohol problem and he had drunk himself that day. Probably because of this event I unconsciously formed a lifelong fear of vomiting: emetophobia.
Emetophobes
My mother, for example, remembers that she vomited during my brother’s pregnancy and that as a four-year-old girl I lay in a fetal position crying with my fingers in my ears. I’m not afraid of being sick, but really of the actual vomiting.
“When I went to visit, I made sure I knew where the toilet was, in case I vomited”
This fear has greatly limited me in my life. When I first went somewhere, I made sure I knew where the bathroom was, in case I vomited. Even though that never happened. In my puberty I didn’t even dare to leave the house anymore, because I was afraid of throwing up if I was on the bus, for example.
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trauma therapy
I went to therapy and that took the edge off. If my son Sam is ill and spits up, I can now sit quietly next to him. Then I pat his back and tell him to throw it out. My maternal instinct is then so strong that the panicked thoughts disappear into the background. I do stand as tight as a spring from the tension when he lies in bed and coughs. I’m so scared it’ll turn into spitting.
Recently I had trauma therapy for this and it has helped. The supreme moment has yet to come, he hasn’t spit after that, but I’m a lot more relaxed about it.”
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