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Food Phobias

Cibophobia – Fear of Eating

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Fear of Eating: Is It Serious?

Do you sometimes have a need to throw up while eating? Do you stay away from certain food or drinks for no reason at all? You might have cibophobia, also known as the fear of eating.

Cibophobia might not be as common as other phobias (such as the fear of spiders), but it can be dangerous, because it can affect your health. You can’t explain it, and it’s frustrating, because you often avoid eating simply because you are afraid of the food or drink itself.

If this sounds like you, read on. There is help for those suffering with cibophobia.

What Is Cibophobia?

Cibophobia is a complicated phobia that can be confused with other eating-related disorders, such as anorexia. While eating disorders are often associated with emotional problems, such as depression or body image issues, cibophobia is the fear of the actual food or what the food might do to your body.

Those with cibophobia are often afraid of food that might spoil easily, such as mayonnaise, milk, and even eggs. You fear eating food such as meat, believing that it might be spoiled. In some cases, you avoid foods that are soft, spongy, or slimy. You might also develop a bad habit of overcooking your food, because you fear what undercooked food might do to you.

While the phobia cibophobia is not considered an eating disorder, someone with cibophobia may have a common eating disorder—such as anorexia or bulimia the same time. However, a person with cibophobia is afraid of the actual food not what the eating the food may do.

What Are the Causes of Cibophobia?

Cibophobia develops from an acute awareness of the possible impact of consuming expired, undercooked, or overcooked food. Some of the most common causes of cibophobia include having bad experiences with food, such as an allergic reaction when you had a certain food or drink. These experiences usually trigger the phobia.

In some cases, you might have gotten sick consuming food that was not prepared properly. This led you to believe that having that particular food would always result in something bad happening to you. It takes you to a point where you become overly cautious about avoiding food prepared by others. You even dread taking a bite out of that perfectly fine leftover cake on the table at your house.

Cibophobia vs. Anorexia

Cibophobia is complicated, and it can rapidly turn into an obsession. Most people mistake cibophobia for the more common eating disorder, anorexia.

Anorexia is the fear of the food’s effect on overall body image. It is popularly called the “fear of eating too much” because of its impact on the physical body. Cibophobia, however, is being afraid of the food itself.

If unattended and untreated, cibophobiacs can become anorexics because of their fear of food. There are chances that you can suffer from both as well, but this can only be determined by a medical professional.

Symptoms of Cibophobia

Some physical symptoms are common in those with cibophobia. Most cibophobiacs experience extreme obsession with food preparation and worry too much about their food.

Physical Symptoms Include:

  • Chest pain and tightness
  • Dry mouth
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Lightheadedness
  • Nausea
  • Racing heartbeat
  • Rapid speech or sudden loss of speech
  • Shaking or trembling
  • Shortness of breath
  • Upset stomach
  • Vomiting

Common Psychological Symptoms of Cibophobia Include:

  • Avoiding perishable food items such as milk, eggs, and mayonnaise
  • Being overly conscious about expiration dates
  • Being uncomfortable with soft, slimy, or spongy food
  • Being skeptical about food cooked by someone else
  • Avoiding anything raw
  • Questioning every ingredient and fearing the use of pesticides in fruits and vegetables

How to Treat Cibophobia

As mentioned, cibophobia can be a complicated phobia and may display symptoms similar to other eating disorders. If the phobia has become severe, then you might have no choice but to seek professional help. Fortunately, cibophobia treatment is readily available. Talk therapy is the first line of defense. Depending on how severe the phobia is, you may need medication as well.

Trying Self-Help

A big factor that influences your mindset about food is the information you take in related to it. Learning about food should help in making you more confident in the food you eat. The more information you get, the more likely you are to be able to eat the food that you’re concerned about.

Another prescribed way is to slowly introduce to your diet the very food you fear. This can be difficult, but taking slow steps to regain your confidence is a good way to go about overcoming the phobia.

You might try to eat the food one morsel at a time. In some cases, every step—from holding a spoon, taking food from this spoon, tasting the food, and finally chewing and swallowing the food—helps to overcome the fear.

You might ask family members to help you draw a “to-eat list” which you can then have while enjoying a family meal. You might also want to track your progress by listing down the amount of food you had in the past weeks or months.

As hard as it may be, attempt to face your fear by trying new food items. Even a single bite would be a great step. You must learn to release your desire to control everything that surrounds your food.

You also need to seek the help of your support group. You can eat out with a family member or a friend who is aware of your situation, and allow yourself to relax. Don’t think about your fear of eating in front of others and try to enjoy your food. If you feel frightened, take a deep breath and exhale.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with ways to help yourself overcome cibophobia, you can always seek the help of a doctor or a trained professional. Although there are different kinds of phobias, some of the treatments are the same.

Your therapist might employ cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. This type of treatment is very popular. CBT involves you and your therapist discussing your fears. The therapist will then try to find ways to make food have a more positive impact on you.

Another popular way is exposure, which involves confronting what it is that you fear. As mentioned, you can take slow steps in overcoming food that you dread. Hypnosis can also be used to treat your phobia. The goal of the hypnotherapist (the person who uses hypnosis) is to lessen your fear of food.

Simple Tips to Overcome Cibophobia

Overcoming your fear of eating food is manageable and doable. Yes, it takes time, and it’s not a smooth experience. But here are some simple tips to help you.

  • Don’t be too hard on yourself.
  • Communicate with people you love and trust.
  • Acknowledge the fear but don’t stop there.
  • Try to change your perspective about food.
  • Be open to taste and try—even if it’s a single bite.
  • Don’t stress about food.
  • Savor the taste and enjoy the flavor.
  • Let go of your need to control.
  • Don’t let society and social media demotivate you.

Recovering a Joy of Food

For most people, eating food is a wonderful experience. But for some, the mere thought of having food can be traumatic. Fortunately, there are many ways for you to overcome this fear. With therapy, some willpower, the help of loved ones, and positivity, you can bring back the joy of eating with family and friends.

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
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Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
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