Emetophobia and Children

Emetophobia is the fear of vomit and vomiting. It is the fifth most common phobia out there, but one of the least talked about. Living with Emetophobia is hard enough, but combining Emetophobia and children is a guarantee that an emetophobe will face his or her fears.

One of the hardest things that individuals with Emetophobia face is dealing with a loved one being ill. It is especially hard for female emetophobes when they are forced to take care of their own children. Women with Emetophobia may even choose not to have children because of their fears of getting morning sickness and throwing up or the fear that their child will get sick and they will be the only one able to take care of this child.

I knew that eventually my daughter would be sick. I tried so hard not to think about it and just figured that I would somehow be able to handle my Emetophobia when it came time to take care of an ill child.

One of the worst places for an Emetophobia attack to occur is in a car. There is no escape. So when my daughter became ill, in an hour away from my house I was amazed that I did not lose it. My husband was driving, I was in the passenger seat, and my daughter was in the back seat.

She had been a little out of sorts all weekend, but I did not think she would be sick. I didn't even hear it happen, but my husband heard her throw up. I initially figured it would be no big deal and was just spit up, but I was wrong. The whole cup of applesauce I had given her was all over her shirt. She was visibly upset.

We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere so my husband pulled over on a dirt road. He kept saying he didn't know what to do. He seemed to be the one having the panic attack, not me. My Emetophobia hadn't even kicked in, or if it had mom mode trumped it. I was not in a panic.

I got out of the passengers side, opened her car door, and cleaned her up with her pink stroller blanket. I had vomit on my hands and I still wasn't panicking. I stuffed the blanket in a plastic bag, tied it up and put it on the floor in the back seat.