“Every aspect of my life is better!” Emetophobia ruined Rhi’s life until she found this book.
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Published 2016-03-08
Aged 9, Rhi’s parents divorced and one night when she was due to be with her Dad, her fear of sickness was so bad that she walked the seven miles back to her Mum’s house, all alone.
As a teenager Rhi’s continued to be ruled by her fear, especially when friends started having parties and drinking alcohol, when Rhi would make any excuse not to attend and certainly not to help friends if they were sick. Rhi had a secret phobia and kept her fears and anxieties to herself.
Rhi was really secretive about the extent to which it was ruling her life. Social anxiety was also a huge problem and she had very low self-esteem.
University beckoned, but emetophobia changed Rhis’ plans: the prospect of shared facilities in Halls was inconceivable, and Rhi deferred her place on a course for a whole year, eventually attending only because her husband agreed to live in a flat with her to provide constant reassurance and support.
Anti-anxiety medication (Citalopram) and exposure therapy was Rhi’s next option and for a while Rhi felt optimistic that she could get more control of her phobia. However, this had only marginal benefit: Rhi’s life was interrupted by panic attacks, safety-seeking and avoidance behaviours including refusal to go to restaurants.
Stomach bugs terrified Rhi and she would wash her hands until they were red-raw. Hypnotherapy, sedatives, medication, CBT, counselling…. Rhi had tried it all and she thought that her life was always going to be this bad.
Getting pregnant led to Rhi hitting rock-bottom: she isolated herself from friends during her pregnancy and likened the terror she experienced from her phobia to the fear of being chased by someone with a knife. She was self-critical and horrible to herself for the way Emetophobia made her behave.
Then, a friend introduced Rhi to The Thrive Programme. Within the first hour of watching a video on the website, Rhi learnt more about herself than she had in years, which led to Rhi changing her life more than she ever felt possible.
Today Rhi is 100% free of Emetophobia. She feels ‘fantastic’ and lives a full and busy life. No more medication, hand-gel, avoiding social situations or alcohol. The sight of vomit doesn’t even make her flinch, and she can enjoy social situations (including drinking alcohol) with pleasure.
In two weeks, Rhi was able to come off her anxiety medication and today she and her family live a full and busy life, all thanks to ‘Cure your Emetophobia & Thrive’.
If you found Rhi's story helpful we recommend watching some more inspiring emetophobia recovery stories:
Rose: • After 29 years' suffering, Rose went ...
Sarah: • Sarah no longer fears pregnancy, morn...
🌟 Start overcoming your phobia today! www.emetophobia.co.uk/get-started/
The workbook and online course can be ordered direct from our online shop shop.thriveprogramme.org/
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Thanks for watching :)
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Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting/sickness: either yourself, other people, or both. All the ex-emetophobes in this YouTube channel used the special Emetophobia version of The Thrive Programme to overcome their phobia.
The Thrive Programme for Emetophobia (also known as Cure your Emetophobia and Thrive) is the single most successful and predictable CURE for emetophobia, and has helped thousands of emetophobes around the world overcome their phobia.
You can study the programme at home by yourself with a workbook (currently being translated into a number of other languages, as well as a version for the Visually Impaired), a comprehensive online course, or be guided through with a specially-trained Thrive Programme Coach® (face to face or online). Whatever way you choose, the results are predictable, quantifiable and long-lasting