Fear of eating (cybophobia): causes, symptoms and treatment

This rare anxiety disorder can be distinguished from anorexia or bulimia nervosa.

There are many types of phobias; these disorders are characterized by an irrational and persistent fear of situations, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects, objects and persistent fear in front of situations, objects, activities or people.

The main symptom of this disorder is the desire to avoid the feared stimulus, and the development of phobias is usually caused by environmental factors. our body is programmed to feel fearIt is an adaptive emotion, which has been useful to the human species for centuries, so it would be relatively easy to suffer from this condition.

Irrational fears can become very disabling, as in the case of cybophobia, or fear of eating, which can cause serious problems for the human species.which can cause serious problems for the person's health. In this article we will discuss this strange phobia and delve into its causes, symptoms and treatment.

What is cybophobia?

The cibofobia is a disorder of anxiety that causes a great fear and discomfort to the person who suffers it, since this one experiences a great irrational fear to eat or to the own foods.

This disorder should be differentiated from other pathological conditions such as anorexia or bulimia, which have their origin in the ideas of fear and discomfort of eating.which have their origin in the ideas that the person has about the aesthetic consequences of food intake, although sometimes it can be linked to these. However, the irrational fear of having a negative body image when eating, such as thinking that food may contain toxins or germs, can contribute to the development of cybophobia.

Some characteristics of this disorder are:

• People with cybophobia show an irrational obsession with food, which can lead them to obsess about the nutrients it contains and where it comes from.They may become obsessed with the nutrients they contain and where they come from.
• They may avoid eating foods even though they are necessary for good health.
• They avoid dishes cooked by other individuals, as they need to know exactly what they are eating or how the dish has been cooked.
• They avoid eating food prepared on previous days for fear of getting food poisoning. fear of food poisoning.

Symptoms of this phobic disorder

As you can see, the person suffering from this pathology tends to avoid food due to their irrational ideas about it, and despite the fact that in many cases they show knowledge about their problem, they cannot control the situation.

The symptoms of cybophobia do not differ from other phobic disorders.Symptomatology is characterized by cognitive, behavioral, physical and physiological consequences.

At the cognitive level, the person has irrational ideas of fear, suffer from anxiety, loss of concentration, disorientation and extreme worry.. Their behavior also changes, mainly by avoiding the phobic stimulus.

Physical and physiological symptoms are characterized by tachycardia, chest tightness, excessive sweating, dizziness, tremors, shivering.

• In severe cases, the person may experience panic attacks. You can read more about this condition in this article: "Panic attacks: causes, symptoms and treatment".

Causes of phobias

Phobias often have their origin in environmental factors. In fact, phobic disorders are learned and develop by a type of associative learning called classical conditioning. This type of learning was initially studied by Ivan Pavlov, although it was popularized by an American psychologist who is known as one of the precursors of behaviorism, John Watson.

Watson was the first researcher to study this phenomenon and succeeded in getting a small child to learn an irrational fear of a white rat that he had previously adored. At the beginning of the experiment, the boy, named Albert, played quietly and enjoyed the company of the white rat.

However, in Watson's experiment, every time the white rat appeared, a loud noise also appeared that frightened the little boy. After a few sessions, little Albert associated the loud noise with the presence of the white rat, and therefore, every time the white rat appeared alone, Albert felt a strong irrational fear that had nothing to do with the harmless creature.

• If you want to go deeper into learning by classical conditioning. you can read this article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

Other causes of this disorder

However, classical conditioning is not the only way a phobia can develop, classical conditioning is not the only way by which a phobia can develop, and cyberphobia can appear by observational learning.and cybophobia can appear by learning by observation. In fact, some authors speak of vicarious conditioning as one of the possible ways of acquisition of irrational fears. If you want to know more about this concept, you can read this article: "Vicarious conditioning: how does this type of learning work?"

On the other hand, other authors think that people are biologically predisposed to suffer fear, since it is an emotion that is produced thanks to the primitive brain as it has been very useful for our survival. The learning of fear is produced by primary and non-cognitive associations.Therefore, phobias do not respond to logical arguments.

Treatment of cyberphobia

Scientific studies show that psychotherapy is really effective in the treatment of phobias.One of the types of psychological therapy that has given the best results in research is cognitive-behavioral therapy.

This form of therapy combines techniques of cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy, and some of the most used for the treatment of phobias are relaxation techniques and exposure techniques. relaxation techniques and exposure techniques.. In fact, the technique par excellence in the treatment of phobias is cognitive desensitization, which combines both.

Systematic desensitization consists of teaching the patient different coping skills. different coping skills (e.g., relaxation (e.g., relaxation techniques) for when he/she is in the feared situation, and the patient is exposed to the phobic stimulus gradually so that he/she experiences the irrationality of his/her fear.

On the other hand, pharmacological treatment is indicated in severe cases, but always in combination with psychological therapy.but always in combination with psychological therapy.

Other types of therapy used to treat this pathology are: cognitive therapy based on Mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy or hypnotherapy.

Related articles:

• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: what is it?
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): principles and features
• Hypnotherapy: what is it and what are its benefits?