How to Stop Reinforcing Emetophobia: 7 Practical Ways to Reduce Safety Behaviors
When you live with emetophobia—the intense fear of vomiting—it’s easy to fall into habits that feel protective. You might wash your hands more often than necessary, avoid certain foods, keep separate towels, or constantly scan your surroundings for signs that someone might be sick. These habits, called safety behaviors, can make you feel more in control in the moment.
But here’s the hard truth: the more we rely on safety behaviors, the more power anxiety holds over our lives.
The good news is that you don’t have to give them all up at once. Small, intentional changes can help you begin to break the cycle of anxiety and reclaim a sense of freedom and flexibility again.
What Are Safety Behaviors?
Safety behaviors are anything we do to try to prevent or escape a feared situation—or to quickly bring our anxiety down.
They can be physical (like washing or checking), mental (like reassuring yourself or replaying events), or situational (like avoiding certain places or people).
For emetophobia, safety behaviors might look like:
Overwashing your hands or cleaning surfaces after being around others.
Using separate towels, cups, or utensils “just in case.”
Avoiding restaurants, social events, or travel.
Scanning loved ones for signs of nausea or illness.
Keeping medication nearby “for emergencies.”
Asking for reassurance (“Do you think I’ll get sick?”).
Each of these behaviors can provide some relief and make you feel “better.”. You feel safer—temporarily. But that relief is exactly what keeps anxiety reinforced. The brain learns: I survived because I did the ritual, not because the situation was actually safe or manageable on its own.
Over time, the list of “things I need to do to feel safe” gets longer. And your world gets smaller.
Why Reducing Safety Behaviors Helps (Even if It’s Uncomfortable)
It’s not about getting rid of anxiety completely. It’s about learning that you can handle it without relying on rituals or avoidance.
When we start reducing safety behaviors, our brain gets new evidence:
“I felt anxious and nothing terrible happened.”
“I didn’t wash my hands right away, and I was okay.”
“I shared a bite of food, and I could handle the discomfort.”
That’s the process that rewires fear—through exposure, not avoidance. The goal isn’t to stop washing your hands forever or to ignore hygiene altogether. It’s to make those actions a choice rather than a requirement.
Step 1: Identify Your Personal Safety Behaviors
Start with awareness. Make a quick list of your go-to “just in case” habits. Try grouping them by theme:
Checking: scanning others for signs of sickness, taking your own temperature, monitoring how your body feels.
Cleaning: washing hands, changing towels, sanitizing, avoiding “contaminated” items.
Reassurance: asking loved ones, “Do you think I’ll get sick?” or Googling symptoms.
Avoidance: skipping events, avoiding certain foods, or delaying travel.
Then, for each one, ask yourself two questions:
What am I afraid will happen if I don’t do this?
What do I feel immediately after doing it?
If skipping it brings anxiety—and doing it brings quick relief—it’s probably a safety behavior.
Step 2: Choose One Small Target
You don’t need to tackle everything at once. Pick just one safety behavior to focus on. Maybe it’s:
Using the shared hand towel instead of your own.
Sharing a drink with your child.
Not seeking answers to your worry questions.
Waiting a few minutes before washing your hands.
Start with something you can imagine doing, even if it feels uncomfortable. The goal is progress, not perfection.
Step 3: Use the “Delay Technique”
When the urge to do a safety behavior hits, try delaying it—just a little.
Set a timer for 1–2 minutes and tell yourself:
“This is an urge, not an emergency.”
“I can feel uncomfortable for a few minutes.”
During the delay, resist the urge to seek relief. Maybe take a few slow breaths, focus on what’s around you, or remind yourself of your bigger goal—to live more freely.
Often, you’ll notice that the urge passes or weakens. Over time, you can increase the delay to five or ten minutes. The more you practice, the less automatic the behavior becomes.
Step 4: “Do It Anyway” (Micro-Exposures That Build Confidence)
Sometimes, the best way to shrink fear is simply to do the thing anxiety tells you to avoid.
If you always pour out a drink your child touched—try taking a sip.
If you usually wash your hands the moment something feels “off,” wait one minute before doing so.
If you avoid eating leftovers or certain foods, plan a small experiment: eat a few bites and notice what happens afterward.
These small moments of courage teach your brain a new lesson: discomfort isn’t danger.
Each time you “do it anyway,” you’re building your capacity to handle the unknown—without needing to feel 100% calm first.
Step 5: Challenge Your Thinking
When it comes to fears around getting sick, it’s easy to rationalize certain behaviors because “other people do them” or “it’s just good hygiene.”
But you have to remember, that even if it’s “rationale” in some ways or to other people, you are still dealing with a phobia that thrives off of “feeling better.” So you need to challenge your rationalizes and be honest with yourself about what is truly “normal” and what is a safety behavior.
Try asking yourself:
“If I change this routine, what real consequence would happen?”
“Is this about germs—or about anxiety?”
“Would I tell a friend this was necessary?”
Sometimes it helps to literally respond to your anxiety out loud:
“Nice try, brain. I don’t need to check that again.”
“We’re learning something new here. I’m okay to feel uncertain.”
The tone matters—gentle but firm. A little sass can break the fear loop and bring your rational mind back online.
Step 6: Differentiate Comfort from Safety
Comfort isn’t the enemy. In fact, some grounding or soothing can help you stay with discomfort long enough to learn from it.
Healthy comfort might look like:
Holding a fidget object, hair tie, or small stone.
Taking slow breaths.
Listening to calming music.
What we want to watch for are comforts that turn into avoidance tools. If you feel like you “need” a certain object, temperature, or action to be okay—or if skipping it would spike your anxiety—that’s a sign it’s acting as a safety behavior.
The goal is to keep what helps you stay present, not what helps you escape.
Step 7: Expect Setbacks—and Keep Going
Letting go of safety behaviors takes time. You’ll have moments where you slip back into old patterns. That’s normal.
Each small step still matters. Every time you delay a ritual, tolerate discomfort, or choose flexibility over control, you’re teaching your brain something powerful:
“I can handle uncertainty.”
That’s the foundation of real progress with emetophobia—not total calm or control, but confidence in your ability to cope.
What Progress Really Looks Like
You might notice:
You wash less often or with less urgency.
You catch yourself mid-check and stop.
You share food or eat something new and handle the anxiety.
You think about sickness less often—or recover faster when the thought pops up.
These are all signs that your fear is losing power and your flexibility is growing.
Progress isn’t about never feeling anxious. It’s about no longer letting anxiety run the show.
Ready for Support?
If you’re ready to stop letting emetophobia control your choices, our therapists can help.
We use evidence-based approaches like CBT, ERP, and ACT to guide you through reducing safety behaviors and facing anxiety with more confidence.
👉 Schedule your free 15-minute consultation to get started.
You don’t have to face this alone—and you don’t have to wait until you feel ready. The first small step counts.