Cibophobia is afear of food.
It is considered aspecific phobia, which is a key in of anxiety disorder.
People with this phobia are sometimes mistakenly thought to haveanorexia, an eating disorder.
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However, people can experience both disorders at the same time.
Like other phobias, food phobia can be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy or exposure therapy.
Medications may also sometimes be prescribed to help people manage their feelings of anxiety.
Symptoms of Cibophobia
If you have cibophobia, you experience extremeanxietyaround your trigger foods.
Symptoms of anxiety include:
You may fear one specific food or many foods at a time.
You might have an above-average fear of illness or choking as a result of eating a particular food.
Or, you may associate the food with an unpleasant or traumatic experience.
Someone with cibophobia will go to extreme measures to avoid the food they fear.
They may experience symptoms of apanic attackwhen confronted by the food.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
How Is Cibophobia Diagnosed?
Cibophobia vs. Cibophobia and eating disorders may present similarly.
Both conditions cause an extreme level of anxiety around food and avoidant behaviors.
If you have cibophobia, you know that your fear response and avoidant behaviors are irrational.
What Causes Cibophobia?
The exact cause of cibophobia is unknown.
However, experts have divided specific phobias into two categories: experiential-specific phobias and nonexperiential-specific phobias.
Experiential-Specific Food Phobia
With experiential-specific phobias, someone fears something because of atraumatic experience.
They may have also been conditioned to dislike a particular food.
For example, a parent might have instilled in them a fear of mushrooms.
Or they may fear that the food has been contaminated or gone bad, which might contribute to sickness.
In this case, experts believe a phobia can develop as a result of genetics and brain chemistry.
In other words, biology makes certain people more susceptible to developing a phobia.
Some common foods that people with cibophobia fear include broccoli, mushrooms, cottage cheese, and pickles.
Your avoidant behaviors may become more extreme.
Over time, you may begin to fear more types of food.
You might even severely restrict your diet, which can jeopardize your health.
You may choose to go hungry rather than eat things that you associate with your fear.
Thesocial stigmaof cibophobia can be challenging as well.
You may find it difficult to hide your increasingly restricted eating patterns.
Your friends and relatives might suspect aneating disorder.
You may find it difficult or even impossible to explain your phobia to others.
This can contribute tosocial withdrawal, causing you to become more socially isolated.
This can lead toloneliness, anxiety, and evendepression.
Treatment for Cibophobia
It is very important to seek treatment for cibophobia from a qualifiedmental health professional.
The most common treatment bang out for specific phobias is a combination ofpsychotherapyand medication.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is the first-line treatment for specific phobias.
Some that may be effective include:
Remember, you are the expert when it comes to your phobia.
Medications like these may be able to treat the symptoms of anxiety associated with your phobia.
Developing ameditation practice, for instance, has been shown to promote stress relief andrelaxation.
you’re free to confide in loved ones if you feel comfortable.
Research also suggests that attending support groups for specific mental health conditions can be therapeutic.
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