The fear of gaining weight is known as Obesophobia, also referred to as pocrescophobia. Men can also have it, but pre-adult females are most likely to have it. Obesophobia may be a form of anxiety disorder, like all other anxieties. Fears might include a strong, irrational fear of a certain issue, location, or circumstance. When you have obesophobia, talking or thinking about weight growth causes you to feel excessively uneasy. You’ll also experience overwhelming panic in situations that are associated to weight growth, such as when you’re near a scale. You might go to great measures to keep a strategic distance from weight growth if you’re confused by it. This can either raise your risk of developing an eating disorder or indicate that you already do.
Although the cause of this is unclear, it may be caused by the following things:
Weight stigma
The behavior of condemning people based on their weight is known as weight shame. It’s a problematic aspect of contemporary culture that frequently praises thinness. Other environmental factors, such as family expectations or peer pressure, may also contribute to some people’s feelings of weight shame. Most often, weight shame keeps people from being overweight or obese. As a result, it could make some people develop a dread of gaining weight.
Perfectionism
In a culture that idealizes slimness, weight gain is depicted as an imperfection. This will cause obesophobia, particularly in those with a solid requirement for perfectionism. Perfectionism, like weight shame, may be related to weight from companions and family. A few people might moreover have a hereditary inclination for compulsiveness.
Anxiety disorders
Obesophobia may be influenced by other anxiety disorders. For instance, social anxiety disorder, which involves a fear of social rejection, maybe the root cause of obesophobia. You’ll be afraid to start thinking about how society feels about weight increase.
Personal experiences
Obesophobia may well be due to your individual encounters. On the off chance that you’ve been teased for your weight or appearance, you will relate weight gain with negative judgment. This could make you anxious about picking up weight.
Wondering now if you have this mental condition. Here is the list of signs and symptoms indicating that you have this condition. The intense and overwhelming fear of gaining weight, stress, and anxiety lead to panic attacks, high blood pressure, and dizziness. Some changes in behaviors that incorporate obesity may include extreme fasting, obsession with counting your calorie intake, excessive exercise, and frequent dieting.
On the other hand, obesophobic individuals regularly have low self-confidence and exceptionally low self-esteem. The fear of picking up weight may avoid them from social blending and shaping a sound relationship with others. Such individuals don’t indeed eat food cooked by others. These individuals take their food wherever they go. In case an obesophobic individual must eat outside food for a few reasons, he/she gets to be exceptionally awkward and stressed. In a few cases, obesophobic individuals eat exceptionally small due to which they may endure different dietary deficiencies.
Therefore, excessive dieting is harmful and could endanger your health. Maintain a stress-free and healthful diet routine. Cardiovascular exercise also has an impact on lowering anxiety. High-impact exercise, on the other hand, might be an excellent approach to deal with obesophobia side effects because it releases happy chemicals called endorphins in the brain, which reduce tension. In addition to exercising, yoga also helps to promote freedom from this illness. In particular, meditation can help you channel your stress into activities that will make you feel more at peace.
PDO I Kimberly M. Tanador, RND
References:
- Obesophobia (Fear of Obesity)
https://psychtimes.com/obesophobia-fear-of-obesity/
- Obesophobia: Fear of Gaining Weight
https://www.healthline.com/health/obesophobia
- Obesophobia: Fear of Gaining Weight Can Also Be A Reason Of Obesity. Know Symptoms And Prevention
https://www.onlymyhealth.com/obesophobia-fear-of-gaining-weight-can-also-be-a-reason-of-obesity-know-symptoms-and-prevention-1569322118