Most folks would agree that vomit is disgusting. Those suffering from emetophobia would likely also agree that the thought or sight of it is a surefire recipe for anxiety. Thus vomit can be seen as a thing that induces both disgust and anxiety. If you examine and separate the two feelings, however, you may not only be able to better deal with your emetophobia but with life in general.
Disgust serves a purpose
This purpose is noted by the Association for Psychological Science:
“Disgust – it’s an emotion we experience when we encounter things that are dirty, impure, or otherwise contaminated. From an evolutionary standpoint, experiencing the intense, visceral sense of revulsion that comes with disgust presumably helps us to avoid contaminants that can make us sick or even kill us. But new research suggests that disgust not only helps us to avoid impurities, it may also make us better able to see them.”
A study published in the APS journal Psychological Science consisted of three experiments, each geared toward gauging a person’s overall perception to their sensitivity to disgust. The studies showed that the more sensitive people were to disgust, the more visually perceptive they were, especially when it came to lighter colors on the white end of the color spectrum, the same shade that typically denotes purity.
That said, your disgust can steer you away from situations or things that are contaminated, impure or otherwise detrimental to the human body, mind and soul. Those with the most acute sensitivity to disgust may also be able to help others detect germs, toxins and other harmful elements in the environment.
On the other hand
An overly acute sensitivity to disgust can be a cool tool for nabbing you a job as, say, a germ detector, but it can be a massive detriment when dealing with the fear of vomit and your daily life. The more disgusted you may be by vomit, the more anxiety it can bring. A high sensitivity to disgust could also make daily life a horror show, especially if you happen to live in a highly urban area or other regions where disgusting things can be as near and as common as the sidewalk.
What you can do
Dealing with disgust can involve desensitizing yourself by immersion in, well, disgusting things. This does not mean you have to bathe or play in a pool of something disgusting, but you can watch movies, read books or look at photos of things that would normally disgust you.
Emetophobia blogger and clinical counselor Anna Christie actually uses photos of a vomit as a way to desensitize her clients to vomit, which typically makes it easier for them to deal with it. While such an activity may not be at the top of your list of fun things to do today, the rewards may be worth it.
“If you think you’re the kind of person who gets disgusted easily or gets squeamish then it will be an important part of your recovery to desensitize to disgusting things in general,” Christie says. “The more you can handle looking at awful things, the less your phobia will be triggered in your everyday life.”
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