Obesophobia is the dread of gaining weight, also known as pocrescophobia although It is more common in adolescent females. But men can also have it. Obesophobia, like all phobias, is a form of anxiety illness. Phobias are excessive and unreasonable fears about a certain thing, place, or scenario.
What is Obesophobia, also known as Pocrescophobia?
Talking or thinking about weight increases causes excessive anxiety in those who have obesophobia. Therefore, You may also feel paralyzed in scenarios connected with weight increase, such as being near a scale.
You may go to great efforts to avoid gaining weight if you are afraid of doing so. This increases your chances of developing an eating disorder, or it could be a symptom that you already have one.
Obesophobia, also known as pocrescophobia, is the fear of gaining weight. It is classified as a particular phobia, a sort of anxiety disease. Obesophobia has characterized by an abnormal, illogical dread of gaining weight or becoming obese.
Obesophobia, if left untreated, can have a detrimental influence on personal relationships and emerge as an eating problem.
This page will describe the symptoms and causes of obesophobia, as well as the various treatment methods.
What causes people to develop obesophobia?
Weight stigma
The habit of condemning someone based on their weight is call as weight stigma. It is an important component of modern Western society, which frequently promotes thinness.
Other contextual variables, like as parental expectations or peer pressure, may also contribute to weight stigma in some people.
Weight stigma discriminates against persons who are overweight or obese. As a result, some people may develop a dread of gaining weight as a result.
Perfectionism
Weight gain has perceived as a defect in a culture that idealizes thinness. This can lead to obesophobia, especially in people who have a good desire for perfection.
Perfectionism, like weight sigma, may tied to peer and familial pressure. Some people may biologically programmed to perfectionism.
Anxiety disorders
Obesophobia may exacerbated by other forms of anxiety disorders.
Obesophobia, for example, may result from a social anxiety disorder, which entails a fear of social rejection. Because of society’s attitude on weight increase, you may be afraid of gaining weight.
Personal experiences
Obesophobia may be a result of your own experiences. You may link weight increase with unfavorable judgment if you’ve ridiculed about your weight or attractiveness. This may cause you to be concerned about gaining weight.
What are the symptoms of obesophobia?
Obesophobia symptoms include unfavorable emotions while thinking about or discussing weight growth. They may include the following:
- a strong, overpowering fear
- Anxiety,
- stress,
- panic attacks
- dizziness caused by high blood pressure
You may also have these sensations if you are gaining weight or are in settings that you connect with weight increase, such as social gatherings with food.
Obesophobia may also lead you to fear gaining weight by doing things like:
Obsessively measuring calories while fasting Excessive diets and workouts.
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What are the complications and risk factors of obesophobia?
Obesophobia has characterized by an abnormal concern with body weight and eating. This raises the likelihood of developing an eating disorder, a hazardous condition defined by risky eating practices.
Obesophobia is present in several forms of eating disorders. These are some examples:
Anorexia nervosa
People suffering from anorexia nervosa may terrified of gaining weight. They may also believe they are overweight even if they are actually underweight.
Common symptoms, in addition to obesophobia, include:
- Extreme thinness, distorted body image, fixation with body weight and form, highly limited food intake, intensive exercise, use of laxatives or diuretics, and forced vomiting
- However, anorexia nervosa is more than just weight or dietary issues. Extreme diets and weight loss are approaches for persons with this illness to deal with underlying emotional concerns.
- Anorexia nervosa can cause major consequences such as muscular atrophy and multi-organ failure due to a severe shortage of calories.
Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent episodes of bingeing and purging. Binge eating is defined as consuming a large amount of food in a short period of time, generally without control. Purging is the act of expelling excess calories by one or more harmful habits, such as vomiting under duress
Excessive exercise, use of laxatives or diuretics, and fasting Obesophobia can associated with certain behaviors. Other signs of bulimia include: harsh criticism of one’s physique weight and form dramatic mood swings concealing food for bingeing worrying over food avoiding food-related circumstances, Bulimia can cause a person to be underweight, moderately overweight, or overweight.
Purging disorder
Obesophobia can result in purging disorder, which is define as purging without bingeing. Afterward Which are recurring, may include forceful vomiting, intense exercise, use of laxatives or diuretics, and fasting. These habits have frequently used to regulate body weight and form.
When should you consult a doctor?
On the off chance that your obesophobia is impeding your regular day-to-day existence, you ought to counsel a clinical professional. Counsel a specialist on the off chance that you experience any of the accompanying side effects:
- the intense concern while pondering weight increment
- Fixation on weight reduction
- regular slimming down
- keeping away from social exercises with food unfortunate self-perception
- You ought to likewise stand out enough to noticed assuming you are:
- diminishing food admission seriously working out calories practicing exorbitantly retching deliberately
- These side effects might propose that has brought about a dietary problem.
How is obesophobia diagnosed?
There is no established test for determining fear of weight gain. Meanwhile Obesophobia, as a sort of tension problem, can analyzed by an overall professional or emotional well-being subject matter expert.
A physician will do a psychological examination to establish if you have obesophobia. They may also:
- inquire about your symptoms
- examine your food habits and medical, psychological, and social history
- If they suspect you have an eating disorder or are at risk, they will most likely prescribe therapy.
How is obesophobia treated?
Obesophobia is often addressed by a mental health professional. The objective is to lower your chance of developing an eating problem by managing your anxiety about weight increase.
If your obesophobia is associated with an eating disorder, therapy may be comparable.
Psychotherapy
Moreover, In psychotherapy, you speak with a mental health expert over the course of several sessions. They can help you feel less anxious about gaining weight and enhance your body image.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most often used approach. This might include:
- identifying warped thought patterns
- modifying harmful ideas
- forming healthy habits
Medication
Medications are not usually used to treat phobias. Assuming your primary care physician thinks that your obesophobia is brought about by a tension issue, they might recommend hostile to nervousness medicine.
This might include Mood stabilizers antidepressants antipsychotics Because anxiety and eating disorders frequently co-occur, if you are diagnosed with an eating problem, you may also be prescribed medication.
Conclusion
Meanwhile, Obesophobia or pocrescophobia are other terms for the fear of gaining weight. So It’s a special phobia characterized by an illogical and persistent worry about gaining weight. If you suspect you have obesophobia, consult your health care physician. They can recommend you to a therapist or mental health professional who can create a personalized treatment plan for you.
CBT, medicines, and exposure treatment are all used to treat obesophobia. However Many people find that joining a support group to strengthen coping skills or meditating for anxiety alleviation is also effective.
