Is it normal to get paranoid when eating in public?

Question

I cant eat in public, and then when I do , I feel like everyone is staring at me, I feel like I then I have to go to the bathroom and throw up, I feel much better afterwards. some days I wont eat, I only do that because I am not hungry. I know I need help, but I dont know what for. I think I have a problem, but , then I will think I am fine. if I was going to get help I dont know what to get help for.
For the record, I have not thrown up in a long time..

Answer 1

It's a phobia, one of the many the people in this sad world face daily. Thank whatever powers that be that yours isn't that debilitating!

You might want to take a look at this article from Wikipedia on phobias.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia

If you read down to the end, it gives you a link to diagnosing specific phobias and their treatments. But your own phobia of eating in public is discussed under Social Phobias.

Answer 2

dear heart:
You may have a eating disorder. You do not mention if you eat when you are by yourself. You are aware of course of the problems that will eventually occur if you do not eat. There may be a reason why you cannot eat in public, but when you are home, it is different because this is your private territory that no-one can invade. Right?
I would suggest to talk about it to someone you trust and see if you can find out the cause.

Answer 3

Remember, humans eat food.
You are human.
All the others in the restaurant are there to eat.
You are doing okay. By nature, people look at other people.
If this little pep-talk-to-yourself doesn't help, there's no shame in talking to a counselor. There must be some kind of treatment for you. You can't be alone in feeling like that.

Answer 4

There is something very intimate about eating. Think about it, it is something from outside yourself that is entering your body. It takes personal action to take the food in, and chew it and process it. It becomes one with you. If you are a person who feels disconnected from others, or perhaps hollow and empty, alone -- it would be very uncomfortable for you -- in the same way that it would be to pee on command for a drug test, or stand naked for a physical exam at the doctors. Beyond the need to eat for nutrition/fuel for the body -- I think that food is a way of filling one's self up -- making one feel content. For people with low self esteem, who believe they aren't worthy of contentment, are depressed, or maybe they just are too disconnected from their feelings - their minds skew a bit, and any effort made to get the things they need are made to be so uncomfortable, so as to prevent that nutrition from entering their body. It's self sabotage -- a self-fulfilling prophecy - for the weaker you get the more the false thinking takes hold. So, focusing on people "watching" you is an excuse to deprive yourself of what you need. It's easier to look for things outside yourself as being the cause of your difficulty, because otherwise, you'd have to look at that huge hole in your heart/your world, and that, in those moments, that just is too big a burden to bear. When you do allow yourself to eat, and then throw up -- the vomiting is a way of being cruel to yourself -- you are in a sense "putting yourself back into place" -- or you're creating a physical process that symbolically shows that you are so repulsed with yourself, you can't get that stuff out of you fast enough. The actual stuff that comes up, is basically a representation of what you think your value is, your worth. That's why it feels better to get rid of it. Logic regarding the damage to your esophogus, teeth, etc. are lost on you, because the relief is so cathartic.
There is help out there, and perhaps the best way to go at this is not to seek counsel regarding the symptoms, but rather, to seek a therapist who can help you get underneath what is driving you to feel this way. Look at your self esteem, confidence - life experiences. Explore your "self" and not the symptoms just now. You'll find the symptoms fade farther away when you become closer to accepting, liking, and even celebrating the person you were meant to be. It's a tough journey, but you are so worth it! I wish you well!

Answer 5

I'm not sure you need to solve that problem on your own. There are professionals. I see a psychiatrist. One of the ways I was helped most was finding out that all my reactions had real explanations, and this is much better than thinking I'm crazy, though to some extent I still do. :)

Answer 6

you may only be fairly self-wakeful. i think that way after I eat in public too. It makes me experience like absolutely everyone is judging me. i'm really a shy individual and that i dont like being stared at, even even as im not ingesting I dont like human beings strolling previous and searching at me. i fairly dont like it yet i attempt to get over it and not in any respect care because human beings have their personal lives and they are only going to ascertain you for some seconds. they are going to probable ignore about some moments later. So only dont worry. human beings can't choose you for issues that they do themselves. absolutely everyone has to eat.

Answer 7

One of my former co-workers (who by the way was in her 50s so obviously she did not grow out of it) learned to cope with it by choosing the chair where the least number of people could watch her eat and then forcing herself to eat.

Answer 8

i used to be that way but i found a way to overcome that feeling
what i did was get a newspaper or some reading material, and read while i ate, it made me focus on eating and reading thus blocking out the rest of the world. try it and good luck.

Answer 9

Relax, and don't be too conscious about it. Congratulations, you have not thrown up for a long time. Remember it is all in the mind.

Answer 10

you'll grow out of it!