Why do we need food? First, to replenish energy reserves. Secondly, to satisfy the need for comfort: we enjoy hot soup on a cold day, feast on chocolate when we feel down. Food has a social function: we use it as an excuse to invite a partner to a romantic dinner, enjoy an evening with friends, chat with family. But why are some of us afraid of food, and what can we do about it?
In psychology, phobias are understood as an irrational fear of an object (dogs, spiders) or a situation (flying, public speaking, riding in an elevator). This fear is often accompanied by somatic symptoms: tremors, dizziness, nausea, a feeling that there is nothing to breathe. Phobic people often try to avoid fear-inducing objects and situations. On the one hand, this is the simplest solution to the problem. On the other hand, it seriously limits the freedom of action, and when the phobia concerns food, this approach can affect health.
There are two types of food phobias:
- food aversion: an aversion to foods with a certain texture, color, or smell, leading to a very poor diet
- fear of swallowing or suffocation: the person is simply unable to swallow food and in the most acute cases is limited to liquids.
Aversion to products
Most parents know that young children often want to eat the same thing at every meal and refuse to try new things. And although this type of food aversion is usually temporary, some children and even adults continue to experience aversion to certain foods or dishes.
The reason may be that the person:
- used to feel short of breath or get sick during or after eating,
- I saw someone get poisoned after tasting a dish,
- cannot part with religious or cultural beliefs about food,
- in the past experienced traumatic experiences in the process of eating.
In addition, the texture of dishes can cause disgust. This is especially true for children diagnosed with autism.
Most often, intolerance to certain foods does not greatly affect life in general: you can almost always find a replacement for them. However, avoiding food in general causes serious health problems because the body does not get enough nutrition.
The solution
The following exercise can help you deal with food phobia. Write:
- What foods are causing you concern.
- How exactly does this anxiety manifest itself: Do you have a fear of choking? Die? Get better? Or maybe you just don’t like the texture of this product?
- Have you eaten this food before? What feelings did you experience?
If you are afraid of choking, start introducing liquid meals (soups) into your diet, gradually moving to more and more solid foods. If you don’t like the texture of a product, try to remember where it came from.
If you are driven by the fear of getting better, you need to pay attention to the body, learn to accept it. In addition, it is very important to learn to recognize hunger and satiety. These natural cues regulate our behavior hundreds of times better than counting calories.
About the Developer
Anna Ivashkevich – Nutritionist, Clinical Nutritional Psychologist, Member of the National Association for Clinical Nutrition.