Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
3K
3K
740
3K
Menu
Menu
static-img
Environmental Phobias

Aeronausiphobia – Fear of Vomiting Due to Airsickness

Share This Article
Share Post

Aeronausiphobia – Another Reason to Fear Flying?

Do you reach for the small complimentary bag the minute you board the plane?

How many times have you canceled a flight because of your crippling fear of throwing up while you’re in the air? Does this fear of being airsick worry you so much that you can’t think straight? Do you avoid plane rides at all costs, even if it makes you miss important events?

This irrational fear can significantly limit your life. For many, it puts them in a constant state of anxiety. Thankfully, there are ways to treat this fear!

If you get nauseous at the mere thought that you might vomit on a plane, you may have aeronausiphobia or a fear of vomiting due to airsickness. This phobia is manageable, however, and you can regain control over your life with a combination of self-help methods and professional therapy.

What You Need to Know about Aeronausiphobia

Aeronausiphobia is the medical term for the fear of throwing up resulting from airsickness. It may result from a combination of different phobias—emetophobia, which is a fear of vomiting, and aviophobia, which is a fear of airplanes.

Aeronausiphobia is not as common as other phobias, which makes it difficult for people dealing with this condition to learn more about it and how to manage it. You may encounter it if you refer to a list of phobias or if you have your mind set on understanding what you’re experiencing.

Like other phobias, this is an irrational fear, but it can still have debilitating effects. Today, however, there are many ways in which one can deal with the fear and overcome it.

A Proven Self-Help Program for How to Get Over Aeronausiphobia Fast

 

What Causes Fear of Vomiting Due to Airsickness?

Aeronausiphobia causes are not yet completely understood. However, experts believe this phobia is a combination of genetic (inherited) and environmental factors.

Take a look at some possible causes below.

Prior Traumatic Experience

You may have experienced a traumatic event involving airsickness or motion sickness, such as becoming sick in an airplane. It is also possible that you have thought about it too often and learned to fear it.

Medical Factors

Studies suggest that phobias may run in families, which implies a genetic component. Individuals with a history of anxiety disorders may also be more vulnerable to acquiring phobias.

Chemical imbalance in the brain may also be involved in phobia development, as it can lead to an exaggerated fear of stimuli.

Social or Cultural Factors

With certain phobias, one’s culture or society may also play a role in their development. For example, if a person doesn’t encounter a particular situation often, such as flying, it may create fear about that situation.

Symptoms of Aeronausiphobia

Diagnosing aeronausiphobia can be challenging, because symptoms may differ among individuals, ranging from barely noticeable to debilitating. Aeronausiphobia symptoms can manifest both physically and psychologically.

Physical Symptoms:

  • Fast heartbeat
  • Palpitations
  • Chest pain
  • Breathlessness
  • Excessive sweating
  • Shaking
  • Nausea
  • Hot flashes
  • Chills
  • Tingling
  • Numbness
  • Tiredness

Psychological Symptoms:

  • Intense fear when imagining a situation that may cause airsickness
  • Avoiding situations that may cause motion sickness
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Irrational worries or beliefs about motion or airsickness
  • Replaying thoughts and memories about being sick
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Insomnia
  • Depression
  • Hopelessness
  • Shame about the fear
  • Social withdrawal
  • Disengagement
  • Panic attacks or general anxiety when experiencing motion discomfort

Individuals with aeronausiphobia may experience some or all of these symptoms, which may worsen depending on how airsick they become.

 

Aeronausiphobia Treatment

How can I calm my fear of vomiting? Although there is no specific cure for any phobia, here are some helpful options.

Aeronausiphobia Self-Help

Before considering seeking professional treatment, you might try self-help techniques first. Let’s take a look at how to overcome fear of sickness on your own.

Write down or record your thoughts about airsickness to identify the patterns that cause this fear. Consider sharing your fears and anxieties with trusted friends and family members. Joining support groups is also a good idea, as it can help you realize that you’re not alone.

You may also consider learning relaxation techniques, such as taking deep breaths, meditating, and repeating positive affirmations. Practice them regularly so that you will get used to doing them when you feel the phobia taking over.

 

Aeronausiphobia Professional Help

If you find that your fear of air sickness interferes with your daily life or causes distress, consider seeking professional help. Professional treatment options may include the following:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) provides people with techniques on how to change their thought patterns and reactions, which in turn can help change their behavior and experiences. A CBT therapist will try to understand and map your thought processes and how they affect what you feel so they can give you tools to modify them.

A Proven Self-Help Program for How to Get Over Aeronausiphobia Fast

Hypnotherapy

In hypnotherapy, a hypnotist will guide you into a relaxed state of mind that opens up your mind for “programming.” While you are in a suggestible (easily-convinced) state, your mind will be given commands that will help remove your fearful thoughts and replace them with empowering ones.

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)

NLP is similar to hypnotherapy because it involves giving your mind “programs” that change how it processes and reacts to certain stimuli. However, it uses certain word patterns to achieve this.

Exposure Therapy

In exposure therapy, the therapist will gradually expose you to your trigger to help boost your “immunity” toward it. They may first ask you to imagine flying in an airplane. And only when you’re able to withstand this thought without reacting negatively to it, they will move on to showing you a picture of an airplane, looking at a stationary airplane, and so on. Although you can potentially do exposure therapy on your own, it’s much safer to do it in the presence of a professional who can guide you through it.

 

Coping with Aeronausiphobia

If you have aeronausiphobia, you must be constantly wondering how can I calm my fear of vomiting. With the treatment options we’ve listed here, you can now make more informed decisions.

You may not be able to completely eliminate your fear; there’s nothing wrong with this. However, by seeking help from professionals and supportive people in your life, you could reduce your anxiety about airsickness until it won’t bother you anymore.

Learn to tolerate slight discomfort. Phobia is a negative cycle. By thinking about something related to being sick on a plane, you may start to feel uncomfortable feelings, which will make you think bad thoughts, which will worsen the bad sensations. You can break free of this cycle if you teach yourself to work through the bad feelings instead of being afraid of them.

You could also try to label what you experience. For example, when you think you will throw up, say, “I am having a thought that I might throw up.”

Labeling your experiences this way will separate you from them, giving you a greater sense of freedom from your fear.

Most importantly, accept yourself. Remember that the fear of vomiting because of airsickness is reasonable. It doesn’t decrease your value as a person, and it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you.

 

Conclusion

Researching your fear of vomiting due to airsickness is a first step toward your recovery! Just remember your commitment to overcoming your fear, and you will be flying high in no time!

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
0LikesShare Post

Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
This Pop-up Is Included in the Theme
Best Choice for Creatives
Purchase Now