t’s interesting how some fears and phobias are discussed all the time - fears of spiders, fear of flying and others are hidden away as though they are something to be ashamed of.

Take for instance emetophobia - the fear of sick or being sick - definitely in the top 10 phobias and yet no-one talks about it.

How do you know if you have it?

Some of the traits of emetophobia are:

• being fearful of being sick yourself
• being fearful of being around or hearing someone else being sick
• mistrust of eating in restaurants or other people’s houses
• avoiding large groups in case you catch something
• excessive handwashing/cleaning
• checking sell by dates
• overcooking food especially meat
• avoiding certain foods
• limiting alcohol use
• fear of getting pregnant
• anxiety around children or your own children if they pick up a bug
• needing reassurance when someone is ill
• avoiding public transport
• avoiding holidays abroad where you can’t control what you eat or drink
• avoiding careers that have lots of people/children contact

It’s more common than you think

It’s estimated that around 4% of the population experience a fear of sick. Compare that to 6% with a fear of spiders and 3% with a fear of flying.

Check out these well-known people who have suffered with this.