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Emetophobia is said to be the 5th to 7th most common phobia in North America, Australia, and the UK. Many people who have emetophobia are amazed to see that there are so many others like them because they have felt alone with this.
Emetophobics fall into 4 categories.
1 - They fear themselves vomiting
2- They fear other people vomiting
3- They Fear vomiting in public
4- All of the above
Many will display behaviors such as avoiding public places fearing that someone will be sick or that he/she him/herself will be sick, avoid drinking, avoid going to restaurants, excessive washing, shun pregnancy, avoid going to amusement parks and anything that could potentially cause vomiting. Some are so phobic of themselves vomiting that they are mistaken for being anorexic. These people are afraid to eat, therefore they are very underweight. Some only fear others being sick, or fear both.
I am more phobic of myself being sick than the average non-emet but a lot less phobic than the average emetophobe. In fact if I know I need to be sick, I WILL be sick no matter how nervous and anxious I am before hand. I will not fight it like the average emetophobe would. However I am EXTREMELY phobic of OTHERS being ill. In fact I am SO phobic of others being sick than I feel resentment towards whoever had been sick and I am ANYTHING but sympathetic towards that person (unless the vomiting was due to something such as chemotherapy). I am not trying to make it sound like I am a cold person, and I know that right there may risk some bad karma on my part perhaps, PLEASE don't think I am cold and heartless due to that because that is how unfortunately my phobia affects me. My husband vomited the night my daughter was born and I had a very difficult time "forgiving him" for it for the longest time. I was unable to get close to him for a long time afterwards. Besides I also resented him for not being supportive of me when I had the difficult time with the Post Partum Depression. Logically I knew it wasnt something he could help or did on purpose BUT you don't mix logic with phobias. The reason I feel that way is because it had upset me so much! And that is how I automatically feel whenever I hear of someone who has been sick, no matter what the reason is. Whether the sickness is due to something contageous or not, it doesn't matter. It upsets me to the same degree. Here is a detailed information page about emetophobia.
I also have a very supportive group for those who have emetophobia. Unfortunately many of the emetophobia groups are NOT AT ALL supportive. This one is great.
