title: A study of psycho-pathology and treatment of children with phagophobia.
abstract: Phagophobia is a disorder characterized by a conditioned excessive fear of eating and is initiated by an event such as vomiting or choking. During childhood, vomiting often occurs as a result of infection or overeating, and painful experiences bring about maladaptive eating behavior like food refusal. There have been few reports of phagophobia, and patients have sometimes been misdiagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN). The objective of this study was to elucidate the psycho-pathology and current treatment of patients with phagophobia by analyzing case studies. We describe 6 cases with phagophobia. Patients with strong obsessions were refractory to treatment, indicating that evaluation of premorbid personality is crucial to the prognosis. It is important to classify this disorder according to psycho-pathology into "post-traumatic type" and "gain-from-illness type" to make a treatment plan. A solution focused approach is also effective for patients and their family. Paying close attention to these conditions and to the diagnostic concept referred as "hagophobia" is useful in achieving these aims.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. doidoi@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Chiaki
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: Mizuho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosogi
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Kumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ootyou
authors.forename: Tsuneo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morishima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D011599:Psychopathology / Q000379:methods*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy