Social Phobia and Anorexia

[Prestonator]

Hi

Just joined this today to see if i could try to get other people's opinions and idea's on my situation. I have been suffering from having a fear of eating in public spaces for quite a while now, maybe for about 4 or 5 years, for a while it did go away and i started to improve, but now things seem to be getting worse again. I don't usually like the idea of eating in public spaces for the fear of being sick, feeling sick, not feeling hungry and the people i'm with thinking im stupid or anorexic for not wanting to eat (i am quite a skinny person), or the fear of having an anxiety attack. Not only this but i get anxious about these fears, so its like being anxious for being anxious if that makes sense. I really hate feeling like this because it is starting to stop me from wanting to go out for meals with my friends, family and even my boyfriend. These are the people i should feel the most comfortable eating around, and yet i still manage to get really anxious about these situations. I feel really bad that i have been with my boyfriend for nearly 5 months and have not once been for a meal with him. This is just another example of where my anxiety dominates my life. I really hate it. I almost dread these situations and try to find ways of getting out of them just so to avoid being anxious. When i get anxious i feel like i can't eat anything, and now since i am becoming more and more anxious about situations i am worried i will become anorexic. Now i think i am probably on the verge of being an anorexic. I don't want to be like this for the rest of my life, i don't want this to dominate what i do in life, because i know that it shouldn't. I just don't really know what to do to try to get over this anxiety - it has been with me for so long that i find it hard to get over it. Does anyone else feel like they are in the same situation as me? At the moment i feel like i am the only one in the world who feels this way :/

I really need some advice....

[Tonsprog]

Hi Prestonator,

I have been feeling exactly the same for about 3 years! People have asked if I'm anorexic, but when I explain what is actually wrong they don't understand. I've made so many excuses to get out of going to restaurants with friends it's unbelievable!!
Have you told your boyfriend what's wrong? It certainly helped me when I discussed with my girlfriend. Even though she doesn't really understand it, it's comforting to know that she knows (does that make sense?!)

Don't worry, you're not alone

[Perfectlyimperfect1]

Your're definitely not alone I get the excat same way. Fear of eatting in public places and feeling like everyone's watching me eat, feeling sick when i'm about to eat or while eatting fear being sick or becoming anorexic , not getting hungry.
At one point i started to think i was trying to starve myself.

Things will eventually get better.

[Prestonator]

Hi Prestonator,

I have been feeling exactly the same for about 3 years! People have asked if I'm anorexic, but when I explain what is actually wrong they don't understand. I've made so many excuses to get out of going to restaurants with friends it's unbelievable!!
Have you told your boyfriend what's wrong? It certainly helped me when I discussed with my girlfriend. Even though she doesn't really understand it, it's comforting to know that she knows (does that make sense?!)

Don't worry, you're not alone

Yeah I have told my boyfriend, and he is into the whole psycho-analysis stuff so does understand it a lot better than I thought he would. but I just think that he can't understand it fully because he doesn't suffer from the anxiety. I am just sick and tired of trying to get out of things because of my anxiety, I feel I miss out on opportunities because of it. I'm a student, i'm meant to enjoy life not be anxious. Do you go through spells where you don't really feel anxious, but then others when you do?