Problems with Appetite/Eating

[MelonFaiz]

Hi guys, I'm a newbie here hoping to get some help/support. I've been having problems eating lately because of my anxiety. Due to some health anxiety issues that I had a month ago, I've spiraled into having death anxiety as well. I'm currently working through that and I believe I'm improving (I'm having longer and longer spells where I'm either just not thinking about it or I do think about it but don't have any real reaction to it like before where I'd feel overwhelming dread.)

But my biggest issue now when it comes to this anxiety is eating. I get hungry, but when I start to try and eat I just feel like I can't get through a full meal. I'm just lucky that my parents haven't really noticed my eating less because I don't want to explain to them what kind of anxiety is going on in my head at the moment. My mouth almost always seems to have a bad taste in it and its like when I'm eating and I don't have my phone or laptop with me to keep my mind off things I swirl back into the death anxiety. It makes me want to avoid eating because it means avoiding one of the things that throws me back into my anxiety. But I know I can't, and I know I don't want to worry my parents.

I just don't know what to do.

[actualWeeaboo]

Ahoy, Melon~ ⊂( ´ ▽ ` )⊃

I suffer from severe hypochondria/death anxiety too, and have done for a looong time. I also use my computer to keep my mind off things. ,w, I had a particularly bad time a few weeks ago where I constantly felt like something bad was going to happen, and it really affected my eating for a while. I would eat like tiny mouthfuls of food, and then not be able finish it out of fear of feeling nauseated, and became a nasty cycle of panic attacks and anxiety for a week or so...

Currently, my appetite's been affected by other things - namely, being nocturnal and not eating during the night in case I wake somebody, and then sleeping through the day, therefore not eating much at all. And I've noticed that it's happening again, where I either feel sick, or barely feel hungry at all and it's aggravating my anxiety by causing annoying symptoms that I know are related to not eating properly, but I can't help freaking out anyway. 〣( ºΔº )〣

I hope it eventually readjusts for you, 'cause that's what happened with me last time, but I know it's really scary and frustrating to deal with... Are you able to talk to your parents about it, perhaps? I can understand not all families are very supportive of things like this, but if they are, that close support can really help sometimes.

Take care, okay?~ ･ﾟ･(｡>ω<｡)･ﾟ･
-- 21-year-old nerdlady

[MelonFaiz]

Ahoy, Melon~ ⊂( ´ ▽ ` )⊃

I suffer from severe hypochondria/death anxiety too, and have done for a looong time. I also use my computer to keep my mind off things. ,w, I had a particularly bad time a few weeks ago where I constantly felt like something bad was going to happen, and it really affected my eating for a while. I would eat like tiny mouthfuls of food, and then not be able finish it out of fear of feeling nauseated, and became a nasty cycle of panic attacks and anxiety for a week or so...

Currently, my appetite's been affected by other things - namely, being nocturnal and not eating during the night in case I wake somebody, and then sleeping through the day, therefore not eating much at all. And I've noticed that it's happening again, where I either feel sick, or barely feel hungry at all and it's aggravating my anxiety by causing annoying symptoms that I know are related to not eating properly, but I can't help freaking out anyway. 〣( ºΔº )〣

I hope it eventually readjusts for you, 'cause that's what happened with me last time, but I know it's really scary and frustrating to deal with... Are you able to talk to your parents about it, perhaps? I can understand not all families are very supportive of things like this, but if they are, that close support can really help sometimes.

Take care, okay?~ ･ﾟ･(｡>ω<｡)･ﾟ･
-- 21-year-old nerdlady

Fortunately, I ended up telling my parents just a couple hours after I made the initial post. Seems like I couldn't really keep it hidden at all. And it did help quite a bit, since I know they're very understanding (I went through basically the same exact thing last year and they were supportive of me) and now I have an appointment scheduled with a therapist.

I guess I was always just so scared to tell them because I really didn't want to worry them with all these dark thoughts that I had been having (even though my dad knew that it's happened before) Hopefully with this I'll be able to get back on the right track :D