Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' only daughter Lola made a shock confession to her fans on social media on Thursday as she shared an Instagram post that read: "8 minute voice note to my therapist about how I am scared because my stomach hurts."
Her admission comes after the singer shared that she suffers from emetophobia. Emetophobia is an irrational fear of vomiting or seeing others vomit.
Alongside a screenshot of text messages shared to her Instagram Story last Tuesday, the 24-year-old revealed that she has the condition.
"Ugh I'm so nauseous. I don't think I'll be able to, I'm so scared," read the text messages. "Where are my baddies with emetophobia," penned Lola alongside the picture.
Lola’s health confession comes after she teased the second single from her upcoming EP on social media. Titled Hypochondriac, the track follows her debut single Lola and is set for release on November 21.
Hypochondria is an anxiety disorder in which a person is constantly worried about their health, even when there is no medical reason for concern.
Clinical Psychologist Dr. Daniel Glazer from US Therapy Rooms shared an insight into the condition with HELLO!.
"It is an anxiety disorder that can really take over a person’s whole life because the fear is ever present and can dictate many day to day choices," he said.
"People with emetophobia live in a constant state of anticipation, scanning their bodies for any sign of nausea and avoiding anything that could possibly make them unwell.
"This might mean refusing social events, restricting their diet to very specific foods which feel safe to eat based on past experience, staying away from public transport, or avoiding people who are pregnant or have young children or beating a hasty retreat if they encounter someone looking off-color. What makes it especially distressing is that the person usually knows the fear is irrational, but the anxiety response feels completely out of their hands."
"The condition is often rooted in an earlier experience, something in childhood, where vomiting felt particularly frightening, embarrassing or totally out of control," he added. "From a trauma perspective, the brain learns to associate that same sensation with threat and becomes hypervigilant in trying to prevent it from happening again. Emetophobia can affect anyone, but it is particularly common in women and often overlaps with other anxiety conditions like OCD, panic disorder or avoidant eating patterns."
Dr. Daniel Glazer also outlined the treatments available for emetophobia. "Cognitive behavioral therapy, specifically with exposure and response prevention, is highly effective. The exposure is always gradual and controlled. It may begin with simply talking about or imagining scenarios related to vomiting, then watching carefully chosen video clips, or working with the physical sensations of nausea in a safe therapeutic setting. The goal is to help the brain relearn that these sensations and situations are not dangerous. For people whose fear is rooted in a past traumatic experience, EMDR can also be particularly helpful in processing and reducing the emotional charge of that memory," he shared.
Earlier this month, Lola unveiled her debut single on Instagram with a heartfelt message to her fans. "The first single, 'Lola' of my debut ep comes out at MIDNIGHT!!!!! 'Lola' was the first song @evigiorgi and I wrote together. I’ve said this to Evi a thousand times and I’ll say it again; Evi created such a safe space for me to truly let my guard down and tap into emotions I hadn’t visited in a while and this is very much so reflected through the whole ep that is officially out in decemberrrrr!!! We had the best time with @urpaljoey creating this song (dream team hehe). This feels like just the beginning of a new chapter in my musical journey and I cannot wait to have every single one of you on this journey with me. Thank you all for your endless support, love, and time. i appreciate it more than you know love youuuuu so much happy release day!!!!" she penned in the caption.