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Obesophbia or Pocrescophobia (from the Greek: φόβος, Phóbos, meaning "fear" or "morbid fear" and obeso meaning "fat") is a persistent, abnormal fear of gaining weight particularly in cultures that value thinness. This phobia was listed as a rare disease by the Office of Rare Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

Individuals with this phobia originally start with a desire to lose weight and then it turns into a compulsive desire to avoid all things that will result in weight gain. The more these things are avoided, the more they are feared. A habit of avoidance can lead to a sense of failure if weight is gained. Gaining weight is seen as a failure to those with Obesophobia and therefore they experience an abnormal fear toward anything that will cause them to fail.

Causes

The etiology is similar to that of most phobias in general, namely environmental, evolutionary, and neurobiological. Phobias arise from a combination of internal predispositions (heredity, genetics, and brain chemistry) and/or external events such as trauma and can usually be traced back to an early age.

Symptoms

Mental Symptoms

• Obsessive thoughts
• Difficulty thinking about anything other than the fear
• Corrupt mental images of weight gain
• Knowledge of fears being unreasonable or exaggerated but feeling powerless to control them

Emotional Symptoms

• Anticipatory Anxiety: Persistent worrying about upcoming events that involve weight gain
• Uncontrollable Anxiety: Feeling the need to do everything possible to avoid weight gain
• Terror
• Inability to function normally
• Elevated levels of anger, sadness, fear, hurt ,and guilt when thinking about weight gain

Physical Symptoms

• Dizziness, lightheaded, Numbness or tingling sensations
• Shortness of breath
• Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Trembling or shaking
• Nausea, Dry mouth, Feeling of choking
• Sweating, Hot or cold flashes

Complications Caused by Obesophobia

Anorexia

An eating disorder characterized by excessive food restriction, irrational fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body self-perception. It typically involves excessive weight loss. A person with anorexia often initially begins dieting to lose weight. Over time, the weight loss becomes a sign of control. The diagnostic criteria for 307.1 Anorexia Nervosa as outlined by the DSM-IV-TR:

• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height, for example, weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected.
• Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
• Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
• In postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea, i.e., the absence of at least 3 consecutive menstrual cycles. A woman having periods only while on hormone medication (e.g. estrogen) still qualifies as having amenorrhea.

Bulimia

An illness in which a person has regular episodes of overeating (binging) then uses various methods such as vomiting (purging) or laxative abuse to prevent weight gain. Many people with bulimia have anorexia as well. The diagnostic criteria for 307.51 Bulimia Nervosa as outlined by the DSM-IV-TR:

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating characterized by both
  1. Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar circumstances.
  2. A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode, (such as a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).
• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior to prevent weight gain, such as selfinduced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications, fasting, or excessive exercise.
• The binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behavior both occur, on average, at least twice a week for 3 months.
• Self evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight.
• The disturbance does not occur exclusively during episodes of Anorexia Nervosa.

Compulsive Exercise Disorder

Extreme repeated exercise beyond the requirements for good health. Instead of getting moderate exercise, these people are compelled to exercise excessively every day. They feel compelled to do so and struggle with guilt and anxiety if he or she doesn't work out. Exercising starts to take over a compulsive exerciser's life because life is planned around it. Those who compulsively exercise are at risk for developing eating disorders as well.

Obsessive–compulsive disorder

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by repetitive obsessions (distressing, persistent, and intrusive thoughts or images) and compulsions (urges to perform specific acts or rituals).

Laxative Abuse

Can lead to intestinal paralysis, irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis and liver failure.

Treatment

Medications

• Beta blockers work by blocking the stimulating effects of adrenaline on your body, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, pounding heart, and shaking voice and limbs.
• Antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly used in the treatment of phobias. These medications act on the chemical serotonin, a neurotransmitter in your brain to influence mood
• Sedatives like benzodiazepines help you relax by reducing the amount of anxiety that you feel.

Hypnoanalysis or Hypnotherapy

Hypnoanalysis (Hypnotherapy) is a type of therapy used to teaching the mind to attach different feelings to their feared item. When the subconscious is spoken to directly, it may be possible to find the issue triggering their phobia and introduce new ideas and positive suggestions. These positive suggestions may then be used to help make the desired changes. Hypnoanalysis has been approved as a method of therapy since 1958 by the American Medical Association.

Behavior/Exposure Therapy

Desensitization or exposure to the phobia focuses on changing the subject's response to the object or situation that they fear. Gradual, repeated exposure to the cause of the phobia may help a person learn to conquer their anxiety.