Manias and fixations towards food: cibophobia, the fear of food

By Cristiano Antonino On Jan 8, 2023

Let’s talk about cytophobia: among the many phobias that exist some people, often even children, suffer from the one towards food. They are afraid of eating raw food, new food, food cooked by other people

CIBOPHOBIA: MANIAS AND FIXATIONS TOWARDS FOOD

All of us will have had some small fixation with food.

There are those who check the use-by date, those who overcook food for fear of eating it raw, those who shred ham for fear of choking.

These scruples are completely understandable and all in all acceptable as long as they do not interfere with our everyday life, our sociability and above all our health.

In some cases, these small scruples about food can turn into full-blown manias, giving rise to what is scientifically termed Cyberphobia or Sitephobia.

WHEN FEAR OF FOOD INTERFERES WITH LIFE

A fixation on food may be temporary, linked to a particularly stressful moment in one’s life, and may disappear exactly as it began, without causing too much damage.

In other cases, however, it can become pathological.

It is called this when it interferes with normal life, when the person experiences social limitations.

He avoids lunch or dinner outside the home for example.

Or when, more generally, eating becomes a problem.

Consider that we are confronted with meals at least three times a day, and fearing or, in some cases, avoiding lunch or dinner can become problematic both psychologically and physically.

Refusing food is dangerous for one’s health.

In addition to changing our lifestyle, it can affect our organism: we risk depletion or even malnutrition.

Many mistake this type of phobia for anorexia or other eating disorders.

In reality, they have nothing to do with each other.

Anorexia is a disorder that has other origins, it has to do with body image, with control, with an obsessive attitude that affects so many aspects of one’s life.

Cibophobia, on the other hand, is all about food, about the fear that certain foods provoke in us.

THE CAUSES OF FEAR OF FOOD

Very often, a negative experience lies behind cibophobia.

Sometimes it is easy to pinpoint the exact moment when the phobia was triggered.

After eating a bad food, an allergic reaction usually originates after experiencing a very strong discomfort because of the food.

But if it is normal to avoid a certain food because we know it causes us discomfort, different, and an indicator of cibophobia, is the case when the fear spreads indiscriminately to all foods.

Rationally, we have no reason to think that all solid foods would be a problem, yet those who suffer from cibophobia experience this type of fear.

Cibophobia is very common among toddlers; children often fear encounters with new foods or have more difficulty than adults in metabolising a negative event.

HOW TO OVERCOME CIBOPHOBIA?

The greatest consequence of cibophobia (or cytophobia) is avoidance.

Unlike other phobias that may have fewer consequences on our lives, food phobia can lead to nutritional deficiencies, wasting, health problems, and should therefore be addressed with the support of an expert.

There are very effective intervention protocols that work precisely on desensitisation.

That is, slowly, one step at a time they teach us to master this fear that comes when we have food in front of us.

The body learns not to become so active in front of food by taking small risks.

The patient will be presented with different foods on a scale of danger, starting with the safest and ending with those that cause the most concern.

Accompanied, of course, by a therapist, the danger is addressed and avoidance is overcome.

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