Fear Of Eating In Public: Phobia Of Eating Out

[marc09676]

hes right your not born wih a fear you develp it with your thhoughts feeligns and suspicions as you age there is alot of misunderstandings about shyness is not he same as social phobia

[Keito910]

I have this. But people at my school during lunch notice that I won't eat my food and it draws more attention to me and I freak out and want to run away. I really really want to eat it because I'm hungry but I can't.

[licko2]

I have this problem. I don't understand it, because I'm not afraid of people seeing me eat, but afraid of people seeing me NOT eat. If i go to a familiar restaurant or a cafeteria, I feel fine. But nearly the second I think of going to a new place, I get sick to my stomach. The only way I feel well is if I take a half hour walk in the cold every time I take a bite.

[licko2]

@licko2 I also have no social problems.

[officialbabyloca]

People think im so weird or physco because i not only find it extremely unconformable to the point of a panic attack when eating out in public, i also dont like eating from plates,forks,spoons, or anything from other people. i have all plastic ones that if they even get near dirt, they get thrown away

[boxpilot]

@officialbabyloca i dont think that is weird i think that is sexy

[FuzzyCholo]

I admit to having this problem. Everytime my friends call me to go see a movie, we usually go somewhere to eat, so of course when my cell rings, I panic. I do what I can to stay calm. I tell myself I've done this many times. I do push ups. Nothin works well. I exercise and it seems to help. The only thing that works best without avoiding the problem, is to not eat many hours before they pick me up. I still feel the anxiety though.

[sekwah09]

I'm glad i came across this site and after reading some of the comments from people below, who come across intelligently, I don't feel like such a freak to have this phobia. Going to read up on Neurolinguistic programming and stuff, can anyone recommend any suitable reading texts?

Any help much appreciated, timewasters, tolls etc need not reply.

[barnesfam]

I used to love eating out and know it's something that's almost impossible to do. When I'm eating out, it has to be with more than one person because that way I feel more comfortable, but if I'm eating out with just one person, I feel very uncomfortable simply because there are only two of us and it's easier to attract attention (ie staring eyes).

[odyssey12345678910]

@barnesfam i think i have the same problem as you...when im only eating with 1 person i feel like im obligated to talk n stuff...i can get so nervous that i can barely eat...did u find a way to solve it?

[barnesfam]

@odyssey12345678910 No, I'm still fighting my social phobia. I tend to have a social phobia in certain social situations, not all the time. Some people intimidate me and some people don't. So, it's funny with me. I'm still trying to pull through it through it because I don't want to stay like this forever. I'm only 16 and I have a full life ahead of me.

[odyssey12345678910]

@barnesfam yea..i get what you're saying...my mood can GREATLY affect my appetite...even wen i get nervous, excited or being in a new area...its like my stomach gets contracted and i cant eat or swallow at all...i always try to figure out situations which im comfortable in, but thats pretty hard to do...theres always some exceptions...

when did u start having this problem, do u haf ne ideas how it was triggered?

take care n good luck to u! =)

[barnesfam]

@odyssey12345678910 I've always been kinda shy since I was a kid, but not to the point of Social Anxiety. I was just your normal kid, I wasn't socially afraid or anything. I used to have fun in places whether they were crowded are not. I started to develop social anxiety around 7th grade (i think), can't remember. >(cont.)

[barnesfam]

@barnesfam I'm trying to get over it, and I think I will. I've had psychics tell my mother that I'll come out of this complex and I see it happening. I keep imagining myself being a very confident person without this problem and I could see that light of hope. I think by the time I reach college, which will be in 2012, I'll be free of this problem. I think it's just a phase I'm going through.

[a1mint]

Would it help if a phobic person would be told that other people are only ever looking at them to see if they can extrapolate from you what you think of them.

So that means you wouldn't have to be worried anymore what others think of you, because others are far more worried what you think of them.