Enjoying the Fruits of His Phobia
We take you to south Yorkshire where a gentleman in his mid 30′s found the help he needed to overcome a lifelong fear of fruits and vegetables. Darren Rafferty tells TheStar.co.uk, “My mum used to bribe me with £1 for eating some peas but it still didn’t work. In the end I just ate what I wanted, which was mostly pizza and junk food.”
Initially this aversion to green foods didn’t seem to be a problem for Rafferty. He isn’t overweight and appears healthy in all other respects. So, when it came time to ask for help it seemed in short supply.
Do You Really Need The Help?
Rafferty is the father of three children. He didn’t want his fear to be passed on to his children. He also had an even greater fear to contend with – he believed his eating habits would take his life. So he began looking for help. Rafferty tells TheStar.co.uk, “Because I wasn’t obese, anorexic or a drug addict, no-one seemed to be able to help me, but the SureStart people put me in touch with a clinic at Thorne where I was put on cognitive behaviour therapy and it is certainly working.”
Rafferty is enthused about the results, “Over the past six months I’ve started eating broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and I’m enjoying strawberries, peaches, oranges and apples. I think I’ve eaten more fresh fruit and vegetables in the last six months than in my entire 34 years.”
Rafferty’s Fear Origins
Like most fears there is usually a root cause. Many times that fear is introduced by someone else or is the result of traumatic incident. Rafferty explains, “I think it all started when a dinnerlady force-fed me lunch at school and after that I would find all sorts of tricks to not eat what I was given.”
Rafferty’s fears did not immediately resonate with those he thought could help him. However, in time it was a program designed for his children that allowed him to find the help he needed.
It is Rafferty’s hope that there comes a time when he can eat 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. That would be up from the five he consumes now.
An Analysis
For Rafferty and others like him there is a fear of foods that are considered part of a traumatic past incident. It was not until an even greater fear was acknowledged that Rafferty did the hard work of finding help. Only when Rafferty feared death did he begin to see his food fear as something worthy of the effort needed to overcome it. That doesn’t diminish his fear of death, but it now gives him a much better understanding of how to cope with fear and still come out a better husband and father.
This story resonated with me personally because I have always had a similar aversion to fruits and vegetables. I have slowly introduced both to my diet and I face down that fear every time I grab an orange, grape or berry. Coincidentally I have worked to overcome this fear for the very same reasons as Darren Rafferty.
What will motivate you to face your fears?
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