I Have a Complex Phobia, Where Do I Go From Here?

Question by Shana: I have a complex phobia, where do I go from here?
I’m 17 years old and had problems regarding food for as far as I can remember. When I was younger (around 4-8) my parents took me to a psychologist because they thought I was anorexic, but this turned out not to be the case. I had a very limited diet (I still do), complain about a lot of smells and textures, and get upset regarding food. My father would frequently refer to it as “an aversion to food,” so I accepted that as my “eating disorder” and tried to do what I could. This isn’t a real disorder as I later found out. As I got older, I placed the blame more on my throat. I can’t do the x-rays at the dentist or the strep test at the doctor’s office, and mommy said that’s because I have a bad gagging reflex. Up until very very recently, that has been my “accepted disorder.” Mommy took me to a nose/throat doctor a few months ago to get everything checked out, but there was no visible problem. The idiot of a doctor prescribed me stomach medicine that I never took and that was the last and first time I sought out help for my throat.

I have a lot of trouble with my throat. I cough I lot. I have troubling swallowing. I don’t like things in my mouth. I gag too much. I choke terribly a lot when I cry. I’ve been trying to get over this the best I can, but it’s difficult to do without both medical and parental support. After my father yelled at me when I couldn’t take a pill when I was sick, it occurred to me that my problem may not be 100% physical. I do acknowledge part of what makes me gag so much before taking pills is my apprehension knowing that I will choke and possibly suffocate on it. These pills are no larger than a mini-m&m, but I still could not swallow them.

Recently I came across a beautiful word that gave me hope for the first time in 17 years: phagophobia, fear of swallowing. After years and years of fighting with New Jersey’s //TERRIBLE// health care system, I finally had the smallest glimpse of what may finally allow me happiness. Aside from this phobia, I also have Social Anxiety, Depression, and ADD. Physically, I was diagnosed with minor Scoliosis when I was very young, and suffer from chronic head aches and muscle aches. The aches are likely due to my poor diet, but my diet is only so limited because of my gagging problem. My goal is to be happy, and before I can be happy I need to be healthy, and to be healthy I need to eat well and exercise, and before I can do that I need a proper diet, and I cannot have a proper diet if I only eat such a tiny selection of food (that is very low in protein and several vitamins– and taking multivitamins isn’t an option I until I can swallow pills).

Even without the help of my uneducated pediatrician, I feel like I finally got closer to the base of the problem. Now I need to know where to go from here. I don’t feel like this is something I can overcome on my own; I would really prefer the help of a professional. But where do I find that? I cannot stress enough how terrible our health care system is and what an idiot my pediatrician is (he’s the only general doctor I can see under my family’s medical plan). I’m worried that I may have to go to Children’s Special Hospital for this. I went there when I was was very young (around 4) for speech therapy and I went there again when I was 15 because of my worsening depression. This is the only public children’s hospital in New Jersey and the waiting list for an appointment is between 1 and 2 years long. Will they even be willing to help me when I’m 19 (I think they only treat kids 18 and under)? Is there anywhere else I could find help? A local hospital, my school, referral from my moronic pediatrician? Who would I even ask about this? Where will I go? Can a possibly get help before my senior year of high school is over (June 2014)?

I’m just upset and need direction. I feel like I got so much closer to finally being happy, yet at the same time I feel so far away from ever getting better. I don’t want to live the next 70 years is such terrible pain and mental torment, like I have been. I’m trying so incredibly hard to go to a good school and study Engineering, but everything feels useless considering all that I go through. Sorry for writing out an entire life story, I become very verbose when I’m upset. I appreciate your help, thank you for reading.
Susan, Grace, are you two actual contributors or just spammers? You’re off topic and just redirecting to other sites.

Serene sounds a bit rude. I’m aware my scoliosis doesn’t affect my eating; my eating affects my weak muscles and worsens the back and leg pain caused by minor scoliosis.

I’m not asking for anyone’s opinion on my life or weird web articles that will magically cure everything.

If someone has an answer to this question, please say so: I’m confused and have very limited help from my parents, what should I do to work towards correcting my mental and diet issues? We have very poor medical coverage, and that will only get worse considering my mother needs to have surgery on her shoulder. I just want to be able to eat well and exercise, and I can’t currently do that with all that I detailed above.

I’m just very upset, confused, and helpless. I barely get to see the doctor, my parents know nothing, and my school doesn’t want to help with a

Best answer:

Answer by Karma
i cannot believe u r only 17
u write and talk like someone way beyond ur years
which is a huge compliment to u
and u seem very intelligent as well
i would like to try and help u but not sure u r allowed to give ur info
out on here
please hang in there
there is hope and help out there for u
u seem like a person that has alot to offer this world
the world needs YOU!!!

Answer by Susan Yarrawonga
Anxiety, depression, worry or stress can cause over 100 symptoms or health problems as as in http://au.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkmYCx0ZQ5CUA.T4L5gt.?p=%22over+100+anxiety+symptoms%22&fr2=sb-top&fr=ush-ans&type_param=&rd=r1

Prescription medication for anxiety, stress, depression and worry can give you bad side effects so natural remedies are often much better.

Natural remedies for anxiety, stress, worry and depression include exercise, Yoga, Melatonin, 5-HTP, Valerian Root, other herbs, vitamin B complex and other remedies as in http://au.search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22natural+anxiety+remedies%22&fr=ush-ans

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