Anxiety and Eating

Sweetchocolategooeyness

I tend to feel slightly uncomfortable when I'm sitting eating alone and then someone comes along and talks to me. I can't enjoy the food when someone is looking at me and talking to me. I don't even taste it anymore and eating becomes for show instead of for enjoyment.

There are exceptions to this, I was fine eating with my ex boyfriend. I would enjoy the food almost as much as I would if I was eating it alone, maybe because he was too wrapped up in enjoying his own food to study me eating.

This is something I've felt ever since I started getting anxiety when I was a teenager. My eating anxiety has gotten a lot better since then and I'm less self conscious about it, but when I was a teen I remember eating a pie at school and I caught a guy watching me and I felt like a possum under the headlights. Unfortunately my anxiety has manifested itself in other areas now

Has anyone else experienced anxiety over people watching them eat?

VinVenture

I have it while eating at my family's place, but not at home. Although at home, I always eat with my SO, who makes everything feel nice, normal and calm. He never looks at me either, and we usually watch something while eating.

However, I have that same thing with cleaning. If someone is watching me, I can't clean. I can't do dishes, wash the table, vacuum, anything. And when I stutter and try they yell at me for being lazy while I would have finished cleaning if they would just leave.

Sweetchocolategooeyness

I relate to the cleaning thing too! I'm sure that for me, it's because when I was younger my mum used to watch me vacuuming or doing the dishes or whatever she was making me do. She would stand there and watch me to make sure I was doing it right. She wouldn't just go away and leave me to it, even if I asked her. If I wasn't doing it good enough, she would make me do it all over again until it was good enough. This frustrated me so much and I would get so angry at her.

Nowadays, like futureSkinnyV, I don't like people watching me clean. I feel like they're judging me harshly and I get insecure. I've always been a secretive eater as well, so I know that's part of why I feel uncomfortable when people watch me eat.

Maybe the eating anxiety and the cleaning thing stems back to childhood events for you too, futureSkinnyV - however the commonplace activities of eating and cleaning were treated in your household is really important to how they affect you now.

fit4mom

I know my OCD and SAD do stem from childhood. I feel at times like i've come so far and then other day's feel like I've totally blown it. I've really had to learn to have some grace for myself.

Lolli1986

I eat alone whenever possible. I don't like people looking at me when I eat. I also don't like people looking at me when I TALK, so I look away when I'm talking and people think I am disinterested, LOL.

kathyms13

i hate people talking to me when im eating , i cover my mouth and make a gesture that i cant talk, id really rather eat alone.