Scared of eating - Anxiety Message Board

Bexter · 06-11-2006, 03:40 AM

Hiya, i'm new to this board so am not sure where i should be putting this! Also, i am posting on behapf of my boyfriend as i am really worried about him and can't find any information anywhere to help.

My boyfriend has had lots of stress going on recently..his dad has been in hospital and then a couple of weeks later his mum got rushed into hospital too...and he thinks this is probably what has caused his problem of being scared to eat. He has had it before, but it got better on it's own i think.

He thinks his brain is trying to be overprotective. He is afraid to eat things if they look a little bit funny or anything in case theres something wrong with them and it makes him ill. He also doesn't like to eat things from packets that are already opened in case something has happened to them since it's been opened.

He said that he dreads everytime he has to eat because he finds it so scary.

He is losing lots of weight because of this as he is not managing to eat all of his meals and things. He knows this isn't good, and he wants to be eating but he doesn't konw how to make himself.

I really don't know what to suggest to him but i really want to help...he is hoping to go to see a CBT person, but the waiting list is very long, so that won't be for a long time if he does.

Does anyone have any ideas?
Any help would be muchly appreciated.
Thankyou very much

Bexter

hry33 · 06-11-2006, 12:31 PM

this problem is usually associated with schizophrenia, but you could try to get him to relax and realise his behaviour isnt normal
perhaps if you eat the food first and assure him its OK he would than be able to eat it

mjewell · 06-11-2006, 08:31 PM

Is he afraid of getting sick like food poisioning and barfing, or is he afraid of being actually poisoned?

Bexter · 06-12-2006, 02:16 AM

He is not afraid of being sick...i think it's just he's worried about generally getting ill, or because he doesn't want to eat anything that will make him have to go to hospital, because he didn't like going to hospitals even before he had all these trips there with his parents.

Thankyou

Punkdizzle · 06-12-2006, 08:34 AM

i went through that before when my anxiety was at an all time high (the worst it had ever been) and i was also having 24/7 panic attacks.... my case is a tad different.. but for the most part the same idea..

i would/will not buy any food from a store if it doesnt look right (eg: like if the box is crushed or looks like it may be a tad open or if a can of something is dented..)

i also use to have trouble when i would open like say a new box of cookies and they didnt look perfect.. like maybe one of them was odd shaped or something of that nature.. i mean really out there stuff that made no sense even to me.. id keept thinking "what if" there is something wrong with this package?!! "what if" someone did something to it at the factory! i knew it was very irrational thinking but i couldnt help myself.. and i just wouldnt eat them.. i never had trouble eating from a package that i had eaten out of before or my wife had eaten from before, only with new unopened things.. (weird huh?) and those intrusive "what if" thoughts i was getting would make my anxiety worse and just create a vicious anxiety circle..

anyway once i finally gave in and got on some meds for my anxiety it was much easer for me to be rational about the "what if" thoughts because they didnt have anxiety behind them.. and i was able to get back into the normal train of thought.. i was slowly able to just start telling myslef how stupid those thoughts were and just eat it anyway and over time it didnt bother me anymore.. i still will not buy new food from the store without checking the safety seal first but thats as far as it goes.. and i think thats pretty normal for people to do.. i mean they put them on there for a reason.. one big thing that helped me through it also was i kept telling myself "ok if there is something wrong with this brand of food you know it would be on the news and all over the media so stop worring about it" not saying thats gonna work for your BF but it helped me out alot..