Dedicated to my client Emiley who is overcoming her Emetophobia-
Understanding the Link Between Emetophobia and OCD-Like Safety Behaviors
Many of my clients assume they have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and often carry a handful of other BIG diagnoses. But the reality? The explanation is actually quite simple.
Emetophobia is a phobia that thrives on control—specifically, the belief that if you can control every detail of your environment, your thoughts, or even random patterns (like numbers or rituals), you can somehow prevent yourself from getting sick. This is why many people with emetophobia develop obsessive, OCD-like safety behaviors, such as excessively checking expiration dates, avoiding certain numbers, or following specific routines to “stay safe.”
The tricky part is, while these behaviors may offer short-term relief, they actually reinforce your fear. They tell your brain, “We are scared of this thing, and we need to protect ourselves,” which keeps you stuck in a cycle of fear. You may logically know that these behaviors don’t prevent sickness, yet they feel overwhelming and intrusive. But the hard truth? These behaviors aren’t protecting you—they’re reinforcing the belief that you need them to stay safe.
Magical Thinking & Why It’s Not Helpful
Emetophobes often engage in external magical thinking—believing that certain actions or objects have the power to influence whether they get sick. This can look like thinking, “If I say out loud when I was last sick, I’ll definitely get sick again soon,” or “I need this specific blanket to sleep, or I’ll get sick.” Others might rely on superstitions like crossing fingers, knocking on wood, avoiding unlucky numbers, or even using horoscopes to guide their decisions. While these behaviors might feel like they offer control, they are actually reinforcing the idea that sickness is an uncontrollable force that must be warded off through external means. The problem? These rituals don’t actually have any real effect—they only strengthen the false belief that safety depends on luck, fate, or external objects rather than your own ability to cope. The more you engage in them, the more you convince yourself that you are powerless without them, which keeps you trapped in anxiety and fear.
Why this backfires
At its core, these obsessive thoughts and compulsions stem from the deep need to feel in control. If you’ve ever thought, “If I don’t see this number today, I’ll be safe,” or “If I wash my hands exactly five times, I won’t get sick,” then you know how convincing these mental rules can feel. But these are just stories you’ve told yourself—beliefs with no basis in reason.
The more you engage in these safety behaviors, the more you reinforce the belief that vomiting is unbearable and must be avoided at all costs. This, in turn, increases anxiety and makes the phobia even stronger. The cycle continues because your brain keeps seeking proof that you need these behaviors to stay safe.
Why beliefs are important
One of the biggest things I teach my clients is that it all starts with the beliefs you hold about the world around you, others, and yourself… If you hold the belief that, “I wouldn’t be able to cope if I got sick,” your brain will look for evidence to support that belief. Every perceived intrusive thought, every safety-seeking behavior, every moment of panic strengthens the idea that vomiting is the worst thing that could happen.
But here’s what my clients discover: when you change your beliefs, your thoughts follow. If you start building the belief that you can cope—that sickness is uncomfortable but manageable—your brain will stop feeling the need to obsessively check, count, or avoid things. The cycle of OCD-like behavior stops when you no longer believe you must prevent vomiting at all costs. This does not just happen, it is a skill you can learn in my coaching sessions within weeks!
Do you need to love being sick? No. But you can shift from seeing it as a catastrophic event to something merely unpleasant. We know from social media that emetophobes always survive being sick. The issue isn’t the actual event—it’s the belief that they can’t cope while going through it. In other words, they make something unpleasant far worse for themselves because they don’t believe in their ability to handle it and move on quickly.
The key to a fulfilling life is to minimize unpleasant experiences by not dwelling on them or giving them more weight in our memory. Instead, we should focus on amplifying empowering, enjoyable, and meaningful moments—actively committing them to memory and using them to shape our identity.
“Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it…that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear” Ralph Waldo Emerson
How to Shift Your Beliefs & Break the Cycle
Overcoming emetophobia isn’t about avoiding sickness—it’s about changing your beliefs around it. If you believe you can’t handle discomfort, your brain will seek out safety behaviors to create the illusion of control. But when you shift that belief, the fear loses its grip. Here’s how to break the cycle:
1. Identify Your Limiting Beliefs
Ask yourself:
- What do I truly believe about sickness?
- Do I think I can’t handle it?
- Do I believe it will be traumatic?
Challenge those thoughts: Is this actually true, or is it just something I’ve convinced myself of? Is it objectively true or not? Does my mom feel this way, does my partner think this?
2. Examine Your Safety Behaviors
Every obsessive action—counting, checking, avoiding—stems from a belief that it’s keeping you safe. But is it really? Next time you catch yourself doing a ritual, pause and ask: “What belief is driving this behavior?”
3. Recognize and Disrupt
Your mind may default to repetitive thoughts or behaviors, but these are just temporary fixes that don’t address the root issue: the belief that you can’t cope. The key to stopping these OCD-like patterns isn’t just willpower—it’s challenging the beliefs underneath them that drive them.
4. Tolerate Discomfort
Growth happens when you prove to yourself that you can handle discomfort.
Remember, your comfort zone is your non-Thrivey zone!
The more you expose yourself to situations you once avoided, the more you’ll realize: You are capable. Process them over and over with a powerful inner voice!
5. Shift Your Thoughts
Instead of thinking, “I can’t get sick” (which reinforces avoidance), try:
➡️ “Even if I do get sick, I can handle it.”
➡️ “I am strong and resilient.”
➡️ “Discomfort is temporary, and I can tolerate it.”
Coach Lauren’s Final Thoughts
There are some things in life that are outside of our control—like the weather or what other people think. But the key isn’t to give away our power or energy to those things. The key is to build the belief that we can tolerate discomfort, handle challenges, and move forward even when things don’t go as planned. Part of that is also allowing ourselves to live in the “gray” which you’ll learn when you work with me!
The real question isn’t “What if something bad happens?”—it’s “What am I exchanging as the cost of my fear?”
Every limiting belief hanging out in your mind takes a toll on your mental health. Fear always comes with a price—your freedom, your confidence, your ability to fully live. The goal isn’t just to “manage” fear or constantly try to avoid worst-case scenarios. The goal is to eliminate those limiting beliefs in the first place, so you can live a life without restrictions.
When it comes to emetophobia, overcoming it isn’t about avoiding sickness altogether (let’s be real—that’s impossible). It’s about building the belief that you can tolerate it, handle it, and move through it. The more you stop relying on safety behaviors and start trusting your own resilience, the more control you regain—not just over your phobia, but over your entire life.
✨ You are more capable than you think.
The stronger your belief in yourself, the weaker your fears become. When you shift to an internal locus of control, you stop seeing life as unpredictable. Instead, you realize that you are the constant—you are in control of how you handle, respond to, and move through life’s challenges. It’s about the process of you growing bigger, and your phobia shrinking into insignificance. That’s true power. That’s true freedom.
Learn how to do all these things and more in 8 weeks on your Emetophobia-Free Journey!
Are you ready to take that power back?
✨Coach Lauren
Coach Lauren Singer 
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