Can't eat or drink in front of people?

[bladesandknives]

I don't know how to overcome it.

I've been with my boyfriend for nearly two months now and I'm yet to eat or drink in front of him.
I thought I'd be okay now that we're more comfortable around each other but I just couldn't do it and had to wait til he'd left the room until I could drink.

The longer I put it off, the harder it's going to be. But I can't bring myself to do it :/


I don't even know what I'm scared of :S


It's been this way for as long as I can remember ... I hated eating in front of people in primary school and I still do. Throughout high school I would only bring something small and easy to eat and by the time I'd eaten it my friends would have finished their entire lunch meal. I had to chew in tiny bites to eat in front of them and it took forever.

Any ideas on overcoming it? :(

[Downsinthenorth]

I was going to ask you if you know what caused it in the first place, but as you've had it from a really early age, I suppose you don't really remember.

I had an old school friend who started to suffer from the same in her late teens. Having eaten at her house and seen how her father used meal-times to criticise his children and put them down, I had a pretty fair idea what was behind her problem.

My friend said that she felt better once she had explained to someone that she couldn't eat or drink in front of them. I'm afraid I don't know what happened to her in the end, as I moved away and lost touch.

Have you thought about CBT?

[johnno]

try thinking of been in that situation and without out judging or thinking you shouldnt feel like that or anything , just feel how it would feel in that situation and allow yourself to feel like that . sometimes when you do this you bring up what you think will happen in that situation , ie been in that situation and been nervous and not been able to eat . or ask yourself questions even if i was really nervous and scared would it really be that bad ? even if they noticed i was nervous would that really be that bad ?

[Onwards & Upwards]

Oh Sweetie!

How old are you? When I was in my early teens I used to get this stupid shakey thing when eating/drinking when out in public, it was my tense neck and shoulders and the tension used to make my head shake,like a kinda quiver, it probably wasn't as noticable to other people as I thought, but ever since the first time it happened, it just made me more nervous 'cause I was expecting it to happen! It soon stopped happening.

Perhaps you're not completely relaxed around your boyfriend yet, which is understandable.

Just remember that we all have to eat and drink, we all do it every day, don't see eating/drinking as a big deal just see it as something that we all have to do. Plus who cares if you get mayo all round your gob!? Just laugh it off!