Obesophobia (also known as pocrescophobia) is an intense, overwhelming fear of gaining weight or getting ‘fat’. It is a specific phobia (fear), and type of anxiety disorder rather than an eating disorder. It is also a symptom that people with eating disorders or disordered eating have rather than a separate eating disorder.
Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN), are diagnosed according to specific and narrow criteria included in the DSM-5 document. This excludes a majority of people suffering from disordered eating. Disordered eating refers to a variety of irregular eating behaviours that may warrant a diagnosis of a specific eating disorder but is detrimental to a person’s quality of life.
Some people are tempted to say their eating habits are normal because so many people are doing the same. I would then remind them that some estimates have shown that up to 75% of women have some sort of disordered eating. The chances are that the person next to you might also be struggling with disordered eating. (Reichmann, C; Rollin, J. 2021)
Could it be a slippery slope to other health issues?
Unfortunately, yes, it could lead to health issues sooner rather than later:
- Obesophobia is a symptom of disordered eating, and it may develop into very serious and life-threatening eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulimia.
- Poor self-esteem and self-confidence can lead to a lack of self-care and concern for personal health and wellness. Perhaps even leading to self-harm.
- It may lead to socially isolating oneself, contributing to loneliness and depression.
- The obsession with not gaining weight often leads to restricting or deprivation of food, which then leads to binge eating.
- A rise in anxiety and stress increases cortisol levels which leads to weight gain, intensifying the Obesophobia.
- Prolonged high levels of cortisol contribute to premature ageing, heart disease, and cancer.
What are the differences between obesophobia and body dysmorphia?
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about the flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others. People of any age can have BDD, but it’s most common in teenagers and young adults. It affects both men and women.
In other words, what a person struggling with body dysmorphia sees when they look at themselves is different from what other people see.
This differs from obesophobia, because someone struggling with body dysmorphia may not have a fear of gaining weight and it may not be related to weight. Sometimes the dysmorphia is related to skin, hair and other aspects of a person’s appearance that are not weight related.
What health conditions can arise from an unhealthy relationship with your body?
There may be some repetition of the previous paragraph:
- Obesophobia is a symptom of disordered eating and it may develop into very serious and life-threatening eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulimia.
- Poor self-esteem and self-confidence can lead to a lack of self-care and concern for personal health and wellness. Perhaps even leading to self-harm.
- It may lead to socially isolating oneself, contributing to loneliness and depression.
- Obsession with not gaining weight often leads to restricting or deprivation of food, causing binge eating.
- A rise in anxiety and stress increases cortisol levels leading to weight gain, intensifying the obesophobia.
Is this a volatile relationship with one’s body, and how can we spot the warning signs?
This is most definitely a volatile relationship to have with one’s body. This is when you might need to seek help from an eating disorder dietitian and psychologist:
- Intense anxiety when thinking about weight gain
- Obsession with weight loss
- Frequent dieting
- Avoiding social activities with food
- Negative body image
- Restricting food intake
- Obsessively counting calories
- Over exercising
- Vomiting on purpose
What wholesome behaviours can we try to develop to have positive relationships with our bodies?
I’ve adapted a quote from an author whom I admire, Brene Brown. The original quote says “Talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love”. My adapted quote is: “Feed yourself like you would feed someone you love”.
When we have some added perspective and can see it from outside ourselves, we realise that our behaviour would be toxic and abusive if it were directed at someone we love. Therefore the same would go for us.
- Give yourself unconditional permission to eat and enjoy foods you love. When we are not overly restrictive the likelihood of overeating due to feeling psychologically deprived is much less.
- Learn how to listen to and trust your body and eat out of physical hunger. If a craving or the urge to eat comes from something other than physical hunger, eating will not satisfy it.
- Remind yourself that you are much more than your appearance or a number on the scale. Move the focus away from this by focusing on aspects of yourself that are not appearance or achievement related. Rather focus on your character or personality, who you are and what you mean to people.
- When you notice a feeling or emotion, welcome it. Accept that you have feelings, but they do not define you. When we allow the feeling to be felt, it sometimes takes the wind out of the sails because what we resist, persists.
- Practice gratitude for what our body does and what the function of that body area is. Our abdomens house all our organs, all our food is digested there to give us energy, and maybe it wasn’t supposed to have a six-pack. This can be done by writing a body letter and thanking those body parts.
- Practice self-compassion. Studies show that negative self-thoughts lead to apathy and depression, not motivation. Self-compassion is an antidote to mental health issues.
Retha Harmse
Registered Dietitian & ADSA spokesperson