There are all kinds of phobias and some of them are most surprising to us. This is the case of mageirochophobia or fear of cooking, a disorder that, depending on the life situations, can cause many limitations and even food health problems. While some people relax by cooking, for others the kitchen is a place more akin to hell. We tell you everything about mageirochophobia in our dictionary.
What is mageirochophobia?
Mageirochophobia is the fear of cooking. It is not that you do not like to cook because you prefer to have it put on your plate or that the kitchen is not your favorite place in the house because you have few culinary skills. It is about real panic at the time of cooking.
But fear of what? What is so dangerous that in the mind of the mageirocophobe can happen while cooking? Well, there are several fears. It can be a fear of, a fear that others will not like the food or preparing food in poor condition and that your family will get sick. And then there is that indefinite fear that causes any anxious state.
Symptoms of mageirochophobia
The reactions caused by this phobia are the usual ones. Anxiety to an extreme degree with palpitations, sweating, dizziness, a feeling of suffocation or even a panic attack if the situation cannot be avoided. It is precisely avoidance that characterizes all phobias, and can you really avoid cooking? It depends on your life situation, but in the best of cases it is convenient to treat this phobia.
Mageirochophobia has dangerous consequences both at a social and family level as well as health. Sometimes it is related to other food phobias such as lacanophobia or even disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. The origin is found in that uncontrolled anxiety that ends up turning any aspect related to food into a real danger.
Causes of mageirochophobia
The origin of mageirochophobia can be found in a profound rejection of cooking because it is a socially imposed role. But as withal, the most common thing is that it develops through an anxiety disorder that favors the appearance of irrational and excessive fears.
Conditioning by traumatic experience is not ruled out in the case of this fear of cooking. Experiencing an unpleasant episode in a kitchen, cutting yourself with a knife while cooking at a time of great emotional charge, receiving bad news while preparing food, or seeing someone have a domestic accident are sufficient reasons for a disorder such as fear of fear to arise.
Treatment of mageirochophobia
It’s tempting to think that if you’ve organized your life so you don’t step footing, you don’t need to deal with this problem. You can avoid it at all times, right? But that doesn’t mean the disorder is gone, and an untreated phobia often attracts more phobias.
So the best thing to do is to put yourself in the hands of a psychology professional that, with cognitive behavioral therapy, will help you modify that initial distorted thought that leads you to consider the act of cooking as dangerous. From there, avoidance behavior can be transformed.
A very useful strategy to overcome mageirochophobia is gradual exposure. You can start by preparing cold and simple dishes that do not require much preparation but that familiarize you with the space. Then you can increase the difficulty by cooking something just for you, so you don’t feel the pressure from others.
And little by little you will be able to reduce the fear that cooking causes you. As this fear is accompanied by high doses of anxiety, the regular practice of relaxation techniques, conscious breathing exercises and meditation is also recommended.
Mageirochophobia is just one of the fears that can be found in the world, however in our category of phobias you can find some of the most curious fears. You can’t miss them!