What do you actually DO when emetophobia shows up?
This week, we're getting practical and sharing the tools, exercises, phrases, exposures, and mindset shifts that have actually helped us throughout different stages of emetophobia and OCD recovery.
And apparently that begins with Katie sleeping next to Parmesan cheese for 21 days. 🤢😂
After waking up in the middle of the night and being reminded of an old vomiting experience with one of her kids, Katie decided the obvious solution was...exposure therapy. So she's intentionally putting Parmesan cheese—the smell of which reminds her of vomit—next to her bed every night.
Which leads us into a much bigger conversation:
What do we do differently now when something scares us?
We talk about moving from defense to offense in recovery, gradually dropping safety behaviors, grounding when anxiety is too high to think clearly, alternative thought records, imaginal exposures, non-engagement responses, acceptance statements, opposite action, and intentionally moving toward the things emetophobia tells us to avoid.
We also walk through some of our favorite practical tools, including:
• “And then what?”
• “What if? Well, then…”
• “Maybe, maybe not.”
• “We'll cross that bridge when we get there.”
• “No amount of worrying will change the outcome.”
• “That sounds like a problem for future me.”
• “Do the next right thing.”
• “The only way out is through.”
• “This moment isn't forever.”
• Imaginal exposures
• Grounding exercises
• Non-engagement responses
• Opposite action
• Running TOWARD the fear
And we talk about an important question that comes up in recovery:
What happens when you take the risk...and the thing you were afraid of actually happens?
Because sometimes you eat the food—and your stomach hurts.
Sometimes you stop the safety behavior—and you feel anxious.
Sometimes your kid gets sick.
Sometimes you have diarrhea at 2 AM.
Recovery can't depend on proving that those things won't happen.
Instead, we're learning something very different:
They might happen. And we can learn to handle them.
The goal of emetophobia recovery isn't to become better at staying safe.
It's realizing that you don't need perfect safety in order to live your life.
Kimberley Quinla, Your Anxiety Toolkit: How To Stop A Panic Attack Fast (5-4-3-2-1 Method):
https://youtu.be/JnoWdaUGA3k?si=jqiT8jMRCEOzKuUN
Interview with Lee The OCD Therapist:
https://youtu.be/M6Gv6kyIBwU?si=HLJUkKuCiul5nImj
