Over the last year I have been working with an increasing number of adults who struggle with food phobia or selective eating problems.
Whilst they do eat certain familiar foods, people with a food phobia tend to struggle with any new foods – they just physically cannot take a mouthful and swallow it. Depending on how long it has been going on, and the range of foods they can eat, this can impact on health – as well as causing social problems about eating around others.
If you struggle with something similar then it may well have been going on so long that it’s just become what you do around food. You’ll have a mental list of foods that are ok for you to calmly eat, and you will have developed practices to avoid getting into embarassing and anxious situations around food (e.g. making up excuses to avoid social eating, cooking your own meals).