What Are the Causes of Emetophobia - The Fear of Vomiting?
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The word emetophobia itself is derived from the Greek word 'emesis' which stands for vomiting, while the suffix -phobia means an illogical, debilitating fear of an object or situation. People who suffer from this condition are called emetophobes, and it simply means they are terrified of vomiting or seeing vomit or seeing someone else vomit (even on a photo or on television). To read about possible treatments for emetophobia, go here: %LINK1%.
The fear may extend to stimuli which are related to the feared object - such as simply being in a situation where such a threat exists, and being afraid of being sick in general. It is the overly general fear of the threat of vomiting in a wide variety of situations that causes the most problems to sufferers. One common example is needing to control how food is prepared and needing it to be clean.
There is very little awareness of this phobia in the public consciousness. This despite being among the most common phobias, the 5th most common according to one estimate. Emetophobics are deeply embarassed over being afraid of vomit and many sufferers feel that they are alone with this problem, and are thus not inclined to talk about it publicly.
That is why there have also been very little scientific studies done into the exact nature and causes of this phobia. If it were more thoroughly-researched, the results could point to one method of treatment over another as being more effective at treating the symptoms. But at this point in scientific inquiry no such distinction can be made.
However, if you want to read about effective methods for treatment of emetophobia that have been shown to work, then click here: %LINK1%.
There are many interrelated factors that cause the phobia in individuals. It is not limited to any one age group - both young and old people tend to have emetophobia. There are a few indicators that it may be more common in young adults.
Emetophobics are usually people that as young children experienced severe bouts of vomiting, or were exposed to someone else vomiting severely with a regularity. This might have been due to illness or pregnancy in their mother. Or if the child had a tendency for self-stimulated vomiting that leads to an increase risk. Another factor that is known to lead to phobia in some cases is going through gastrointestinal surgery. Some cases of this phobia have been due to mental disorders, or at least attributed so.
In one particular study conducted by Dr. Angela L. Davidson, it was concluded that emetophobics are people who are more likely to have what is called an internal locus of control in regard to their day-to-day life. The locus of control simply stated shows where an individual thinks that control comes from. If the locus of control is internal, it means that the person believes they have control over their own actions in a situation, while an external locus of control means that things are out of their control, perhaps in luck or fate. Note that this is a gradual scale, not a black-and-white category.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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