Social Anxiety: Eating
Eating can be both a pleasure and a painful experience, depending on how you view it. I'm not talking about people with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.
I've seen people eating alone quietly in restaurants while they peruse the pages of a magazine or book or listen to their iPods. Some leisurely eat while scanning the room to look at interesting people or overhear conversations that have caught their attention. People, in this way, can be fascinating, if you overcome your feeling that you're being somewhat intrusive.
But for some, eating in a restaurant is something they would compare to walking over hot coals a mile long. It is an excruciating experience. Let me tell you one experience I had with an institutionalized patient who, unknown to the staff, had this fear of eating in public. They saw it as willful, obstinate and extremely annoying behavior. He wouldn't eat in the dining room and he'd dump his tray almost as soon as it was filled. Then he'd storm back to his unit and demand money for candy which he could buy at a store on the grounds.
This fellow was a large, rather unapproachable-looking guy who had been a resident for over 20 years. He was always walking around in a state of clothing disarray. The staff was approaching the end of their rope.
Unsuspecting me, the new "kid" on the block as it were, was brought in to remedy this situation. I didn't know where to begin, but I felt that the dining room with all the patients must have held the answer. I began a plan to take him, alone, down to the dining room and to keep him engaged in conversation while the other patients came in. Once he was aware of them, dump went the tray and he wanted to return to his room.
We worked on this for weeks and then, after I left, the next person, under my direction, worked with him. It went very well as he gradually learned to handle the anxiety he initially felt and to block out what others were doing.
Learning to be comfortable when eating out is really a matter of learning how to help distract yourself and to refocus on something you find interesting or helpful.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: socialanxiety, shyness
I've seen people eating alone quietly in restaurants while they peruse the pages of a magazine or book or listen to their iPods. Some leisurely eat while scanning the room to look at interesting people or overhear conversations that have caught their attention. People, in this way, can be fascinating, if you overcome your feeling that you're being somewhat intrusive.
But for some, eating in a restaurant is something they would compare to walking over hot coals a mile long. It is an excruciating experience. Let me tell you one experience I had with an institutionalized patient who, unknown to the staff, had this fear of eating in public. They saw it as willful, obstinate and extremely annoying behavior. He wouldn't eat in the dining room and he'd dump his tray almost as soon as it was filled. Then he'd storm back to his unit and demand money for candy which he could buy at a store on the grounds.
This fellow was a large, rather unapproachable-looking guy who had been a resident for over 20 years. He was always walking around in a state of clothing disarray. The staff was approaching the end of their rope.
Unsuspecting me, the new "kid" on the block as it were, was brought in to remedy this situation. I didn't know where to begin, but I felt that the dining room with all the patients must have held the answer. I began a plan to take him, alone, down to the dining room and to keep him engaged in conversation while the other patients came in. Once he was aware of them, dump went the tray and he wanted to return to his room.
We worked on this for weeks and then, after I left, the next person, under my direction, worked with him. It went very well as he gradually learned to handle the anxiety he initially felt and to block out what others were doing.
Learning to be comfortable when eating out is really a matter of learning how to help distract yourself and to refocus on something you find interesting or helpful.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: socialanxiety, shyness
0 Comments:
Post a Comment