Fear of Food Needs Expert Treatment

Q:  I have a 22-year-old son who has always been a picky eater. At least, when he was young, that is how he was classified. Now that he is an adult, this is really starting to affect his life and make him very unhappy. There are so few things that he will eat that it makes it hard for him to eat out. He is embarrassed at parties and social functions because there is rarely something that he can eat. For some reason, he will not try new things.

He is frustrated and I can tell that he really wants to change, but for some reason he is afraid to try! I am certain this is some kind of emotional problem and he now agrees with me. He is a college senior, happy, with lots of friends and a stable home life. Please steer me in the right direction to help him.

A:  Over the years, I have diagnosed many young women who have eating disorders, anorexia or bulimia. As you may know, they are much more common in women and rarely seen in men. Based on what you've told me, your son seems emotionally stable, sociable and able to function otherwise, so I doubt this is a true eating disorder, but rather a phobia to food.

Laura A. Lees, a clinical psychologist who specializes in eating disorders in Waukesha, agrees with me that your son may have a phobia, a persistent fear of objects or situations that a person realizes are excessive or unreasonable. When your son is in situations where food is present, like at restaurants or when different foods are offered, he becomes anxious and fearful. Eventually, this may progress to the point where he will go out of his way to avoid situations where there is food.

Obviously, more information is needed to determine if he also has eating-disorder components to the phobia. Because eating disorders are treated very differently than phobias that involve food, my recommendation would be for him to seek help from an eating disorder specialist who could accurately assess his food concerns to determine the type of treatment that would be most appropriate.

"Dear Doctor" is a compilation of patient questions answered by doctors from the Medical College of Wisconsin.