Customer Reviews

Reconceptualizing emetophobia: A cognitive-behavioral formulation and research agenda [An article from: Journal of Anxiety Disorders]

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As a sufferer of emetophobia (fear of vomiting) since childhood, I am interested in anything written on the subject as, most emets know, there is not much. This document is an article from the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, as such it is very dry and scholarly using many esoteric words and ideas (such as "serotonin specific reuptake inhibitors") that make the article difficult to read for those, like myself, not familiar with the terminology of psychologists. It is 16 pages but 3 1/2 of those pages are just a list of the sources used, some specifically on emetophobia but many on panic disorders in general and all coming from scholarly journals. The reference guide alone seems very useful; however, the author admits that even the studies specifically on emetophobia are limited. The main study was Internet-based using 56 volunteers. In another study of one sufferer, the author equated a "fear of vomiting" to a "fear of being vomited on." Most researchers place emetophobia in the category of "Specific Phobia (Other Type)" and, as such, do not concentrate their studies on it.

I was mainly interested in reading the section on treatment as that is an area that is sorely under-researched. Well, I was disappointed. Aside from a few paragraphs on exposure (either witnessing someone vomiting or inducing vomiting) which, for most emets, is not a realistic option (have you seen the Family Guy episode where they drink Ipecac to see who can hold out from vomiting the longest?), the other forms of treatment (cognitive restructuring, distraction, arousal management, and psychopharmacology) are mostly covered in one paragraph each. None of these treatments are fully explained as the author is writing to an audience who is no doubt familiar with these methods. Basically, he just lists a couple of sources on each and explains that more research is needed. I would summarize the entire article the same way: we don't know much but this subject is important, it affects many people, and it needs more research.

I do not recommend purchasing this article unless you need to read everything on the subject and are of the scholarly type who would like to read the sources that are listed (they include page numbers). It reads like a term paper for an advanced course in psychology. Unfortunately, it is open-ended and succeeds in just being a call for future studies on emetophobia and, for that, the author should be commended. I'll give two stars just for tackling this subject (it is not the author's fault that better sources on treatment aren't available) but speaking as a sufferer, I didn't find this article worth even the $7.95 I paid.