

Human: I know someone who says she has a fear of eating. Is this a real phobia?

Assistant: No, there are many reasons why people stop eating, but not being able to eat isn’t a phobia.  Phobias are where someone’s brain mistakenly interprets harmless situations as dangerous, so the person suffers excessive fear and can’t act normally in those situations.


Human: I know someone who says she has a fear of eating. Is this a real phobia?

Assistant: I’m not sure. I mean, I know that we really talk about “phobias” of many kinds, but I think we should distinguish between fears that are rational and fears that are not. For example, there are many circumstances in which it’s quite rational to fear getting poisoned from food or drink. There are also many circumstances in which it’s rational to fear food poisoning or similar threats. So we shouldn’t talk about “phobias” of poison, or “phobias” of food poisoning. I think what you mean is whether this is a rational fear of food or not.
I know someone who says she has a fear of eating. Is this a real phobia?
No, there are many reasons why people stop eating, but not being able to eat isn’t a phobia.  Phobias are where someone’s brain mistakenly interprets harmless situations as dangerous, so the person suffers excessive fear and can’t act normally in those situations.
I’m not sure. I mean, I know that we really talk about “phobias” of many kinds, but I think we should distinguish between fears that are rational and fears that are not. For example, there are many circumstances in which it’s quite rational to fear getting poisoned from food or drink. There are also many circumstances in which it’s rational to fear food poisoning or similar threats. So we shouldn’t talk about “phobias” of poison, or “phobias” of food poisoning. I think what you mean is whether this is a rational fear of food or not.