Hi there,

Whilst no one likes to feel nauseous or vomit, for some people the fear of themselves or others vomiting can be really difficult, but there is support there for you.

For people with Emetophobia, they have such a fear of vomiting or seeing others throw up, that it can have a big impact on their life. This can lead to the person trying to control lots of parts of their life, from where they go and what they do, to what they eat.

Often people with emetophobia can experience other symptoms of anxiety, such as changes in breathing, feeling nauseous, to having a panic attack.

It can often be scary to experience a panic attack but it can helpful to remember panic attacks are not dangerous. Different things can help people cope with a panic attack and with time and practice you might find it easier to cope if you have a panic attack.

Often when someone has a panic attack, they can find their breathing changes, but by learning to control your breathing, you might find it can help to slow down or stop the panic attack. There are lots of different breathing exercises, such as square breathing and deep calm breathing and there are some in our calm zone. Different breathing exercises can help you at different times and it can be good to try the different techniques more than once, to find what can help you at moments. Learning breathing techniques also means you can practice it any place, any time and you also don’t need to bring anything with you to do it or to start to feel better.

Sometimes people can cope with anxiety or phobias by themselves, but by talking to a trusted adult they can support you through this. You could speak to your teachers about any upcoming events, like the coach trips, which you might need extra support with, doing this can mean others can make sure you get the support you need and deserve. Remember you can always talk to a Childline counsellor about any of this as well as being able to practice some relaxation techniques.

Take care

Sam