Too Afraid to Eat: Why Emetophobia Didn't Take Our Granddaughter From Us

In today’s episode, Debi Morgan joins Michelle Johnson to discuss her journey of supporting her granddaughter through the Emetophobia-free programme. Debi discusses the best ways to support family members who are experiencing emetophobia, pitfalls they may experience along the way and tips on how to avoid them!

Debi’s granddaughter began showing signs of emetophobia at the age of 11, despite spending her childhood in great spirits with lots of friends and hobbies. During the period of change from elementary to high school, she began experiencing heightened anxiety, nausea, began rejecting the idea of going to school/socialising and displayed a concerning decrease in food consumption.

Debi’s family worked hard at explaining the importance of eating, however because she wanted to avoid being sick, this was not beneficial for her granddaughter. After several intense medical tests, it was apparent that there was nothing physically wrong with her. During this period Deb's grandaughter limited her food and drink to the point she was unable to walk from lack of nutrition and was admitted to hospital and tube fed for a period.

Debi’s mother discovered the Emetophobia-free programme which was a complete and utter breakthrough for her. By learning how to improve the thoughts her daughter was creating about sickness, she was able to completely transform her mindset about sickness.

Debi’s granddaughter continues to work on improving her mindset even today, but is confident in her ability to cope with difficult situations, including the idea of sickness.

3 tips for parents/guardians of an emetophobia sufferer

Don’t fight control with control: Being forceful creates resistance, and allowing them to make a decision is providing them with a feeling of power
Learn to Thrive yourself, so that you can support the child/young person
Respond, don’t react: Allow them the space to learn how to cope, rather than providing them with the solutions