Case Studies

The situation came to a head when Nicky fell pregnant two years ago - she suffered extreme morning sickness which was inescapable - it was really a question of "flooding" in action. Because of the sheer number of times Nicky was sick during the early stages of her pregnancy, eventually her fear of being sick lessened to the extent that it was no longer an issue.

Vivienne, social phobia (32 years)

Vivienne has learnt to cope with her social phobia which manifested itself in several ways particularly in social situations involving food - e.g. eating at restaurants or cafes, dinner parties etc. She found herself becoming anxious whenever she had to eat in front of others and worried that others might notice her appearing anxious. The problem became more intense when she went to university; being from a working class background and having a strong northern accent, Vivienne was very much aware of the difference between herself and the middle class, southern "norm" around her. This made her very self-conscious and left her feeling unable to eat in front of others at all. Indeed, on many occasions she would go without food for a whole day rather than eating in public.

Her feelings of anxiety in social situations effectively destroyed her appetite; eventually she was unable to even swallow food in front of others. Vivienne went to her GP who referred her to a psychologist for cognitive behaviour therapy. This involved looking at her thoughts and feelings around eating in public and how they affected her behaviour. She was also offered the option of attending a social skills course run by the local psychology department.

Around the same time, Vivienne found out about a self-help group that ran in her area for people affected by anxiety problems. Meeting other people going through similar experiences really helped break down her feelings of isolation, and stopped her feeling like a freak.

After several years of working on her problem and self-esteem, Vivienne is now able to eat quite happily in front of friends and colleagues although she still has to sit with her back to strangers in restaurants.

Melvyn, OCD (43 years)

Melvyn has suffered with obsessive compulsive disorder all of his life - he can remember suffering with the problem from the age of 5. He has always had difficulties around food hygiene and preparation. This has affected his life in many ways; typically for Melvyn, preparing a meal involves: having to prepare the food himself as he cannot bear anyone else touching the food, wiping down surfaces repeatedly before chopping vegetables etc, he has to wear rubber gloves to stop his hands becoming dry through repeated hand-washing. He washes down surfaces in between various stages of food preparation. In general, he is always on the look out for possible signs of food contamination.

If he orders a takeaway and then notices the person who is serving him touch their face/hair or even simply scratching their hands, he will walk away and be unable to eat the food. When people come to Melvyn's house he asks them immediately to wash their hands so as to reduce the risk of contamination. Failure to comply with his wishes results in a large argument. He has his "own" cup at work and locks it away so that others cannot use it.

Melvyn spent many years trying to convince himself that his behaviour was normal despite friends and family telling him otherwise. Indeed, it was his best friend who eventually persuaded him to see his GP, who referred him to a psychologist for behavioural therapy. This involved breaking down the compulsive behaviours that Melvyn exhibited - and centred on limiting the number of times he performed his "ritual".

Because Melvyn's OCD was particularly severe at the time of presentation, his GP prescribed an anti-depressant from the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor group of drugs. This helped with the obsessional thoughts, reducing them and therefore the need to conduct the rituals. Melvyn also found it helpful to join a national organisation which enabled him to read of others' experiences whilst remaining anonymous and gain information in a readable format on his condition.

 We are indebted to the Phobic Society for their help in compiling this section.