Re:Choking phobia

Hi,
After several searches in the net, trying to find successful cases of choking phobia I came across the situation you presented. Although I have been a psychotherapist some years ago, 5 months ago I developed very similar symptoms such as the ones you describe for your patient. The origin is clear: after very serious and continued stress and tiredness I got muscular spasms for a period of time, during which I got some coffee stuck in my throat. As I have always been quite sensitive in what refers to things in my throat, I panicked at the time and reasoned that if I had survived to a liquid maybe it wouldn't be the case with a solid. From that day on, I manage to take breakfast (I'm still asleep), and I take liquids from the cup. All the rest, I chew but need the help of a running tap (somehow I guess it stimulates the swallowing reflex)and, even so, most of the time I can't swallow the food (or soup) and have to spit it. Needless to say that there is nothing wrong with me physically. In a nutshell, it seems to be a choking phobia with a clear traumatic event in the origin. So far so good, but how am I going to treat this? I've tried several approaches: cognitive/behavioral, exposure, hipnotherapy, Reiki, heavy antidepressant and antianxiety drugs... Nothing works. So it is very important to me to know what happened to your client (basically because I'm getting desperate and there are times - all too often - when I think that I'll stay like this for ever) and, in case you succeeded in your therapy, what exactly you've done. I'm sorry to ask you this too direct questions, but I live in Portugal so it would be a bit difficult for me to consult with you.
Best regards,
Madalena Lobo
rui.bevilacqua@iol.pt

Replies:

Re:Choking phobia, by Dr. Paul J. Robinson, 03/25/03

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