Mageirocophobia

Mageirocophobia is the irrational fear of cooking. Someone suffering from this condition can expect to experience a very high influx of anxiety when merely thinking of cooking, let alone actually cooking themselves. In fact, if they were to be near someone else who was cooking or if they themselves were somehow pressured into cooking then they may experience a full blown panic attack as a result of it.

If they were to experience such a panic attack, then they can expect to endure a plethora of different symptoms, such as an increased heart rate, an increased rate of breathing, a higher blood pressure, muscle tension, and excessive sweating, among several other symptoms. Although not everyone suffering from mageirocophobia will endure panic attacks, it is still very plausible to occur nonetheless.

Someone suffering from full blown mageirocophobia may find it very challenging to go to certain restaurants due to the fact that they may see someone cooking or they may see kitchen supplies of some sort, which may remind them of cooking. So, someone with mageirocophobia may find themselves eating foods that do not require cooking. Although this may help them to reduce some of their acute anxiety, doing so may also worsen their mageirocophobia in the long term due to the fact that by actively avoiding their fear of cooking, they are also reinforcing their fear of cooking as well.

Someone with this condition may also have to deal with being malnourished due to the fact that they may be limited to what foods they can eat as they are likely to refuse to eat foods that were cooked. However, this may lead them to eat healthy raw fruits and vegetables. So, the foods that someone with mageirocophobia will eat will greatly depend on their own personal preferences.

Symptoms of Mageirocophobia

As is the case with virtually every other phobia that exists, someone with mageirocophobia can expect anxiety to be the most prominent symptom of their condition. Also, as previously mentioned, their anxiety may be so extreme that they may even endure full blown panic attacks as a result of it. Depending on the severity of their panic attack, they may even need to be hospitalized. However, this will vary from person to person and will be dependent on many factors.

Furthermore, someone with mageirocophobia may go to painstaking efforts to ensure that they do not come into contact with their fear in any way. This may mean them not only avoiding areas where they may come into contact with their fear, but also that they may actively try to prevent it from happening by taking a more hands-on approach.

Below, you will see some more common symptoms of this phobia:

👨‍🍳Anxiety when thinking of cooking

👨‍🍳Anxiety when seeing someone cooking

👨‍🍳Constantly avoiding cooking

Unable to cope with their anxiety

Muscle tension, shakiness, and sweating

👨‍🍳May experience panic attacks

Causes of Mageirocophobia

There are no definitive causes of mageirocophobia. Nevertheless, genetics and one’s environment may both play very significant roles in the development of this condition. For example, if someone has a family history of mental illness, especially of anxiety disorders or specific phobias, then they may have a higher chance of developing. This may be due to them then having a genetic predisposition to developing mental illness in general.

If someone were to have such genetics, then it may only require that they experience some sort of traumatic event for them to develop full blown mageirocophobia. Essentially, any sort of emotionally painful event that involved the various fears associated with mageirocophobia in some way may be enough for someone to develop this condition insofar as they have the proper genetics.

Although we do not know the exact causes of mageirocophobia, the consensus among most mental health professionals is that both genetics and environmental factors play very significant roles in the development of any given mental disorder. So, taking a closer look at these two different parameters may shed some light as to whether or not you may be at risk for developing mageirocophobia.

Mageirocophobia Treatments

Just as there are no definitive causes of mageirocophobia, there are also no treatments that are specifically designed for this condition either. Nevertheless, there are still many different forms of treatment that can help to significantly improve many of the symptoms of mageirocophobia. Some of these treatments include exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and some psychiatric medications, among others.

Exposure therapy is one of the most common forms of treatment for people suffering from phobias. Exposure therapy works by having the therapist gradually expose the patient to their fear over a given period of time. With regards to mageirocophobia, the therapist may start off by exposing the patient to photos of someone cooking and then eventually expose them to cooking food themselves. This would all be in an attempt to help desensitize the patient to their fear by repetitively exposing them to it. Theoretically, the more someone is exposed to something they fear, the less it will bother them over time.

CBT is another very common form of treatment that is often used to help people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), among other conditions. Moreover, it may also be effective at helping to treat people suffering from phobias like mageirocophobia as well. CBT works by having the therapist help the patient to uncover why it is that they think, feel, and behave the way they do with regards to a particular fear or concern they have.

Someone with mageirocophobia partaking in CBT can expect to learn why it is that they think the way they do about their fear, among other things. Understanding such things may help someone with mageirocophobia to take a more pragmatic approach when thinking about their fear of cooking.

Exercise for Mageirocophobia

Exercise has been shown to be extremely beneficial for people suffering from anxiety disorders, including mageirocophobia. Specifically, cardiovascular exercise can significantly help to relieve one’s stress. This is not to say that weight-resistance training would not benefit someone with anxiety, but rather that aerobic exercise is has been shown to be more effective at releasing those feel good chemicals in the brain, such as endorphins.

According to the American Psychology Association, exercise can help to condition the mind to better cope with stressful situations. This makes sense when we take into consideration the high amount of stress that the body is put under during strenuous exercise. So, if you yourself are sedentary, then engaging in some form of aerobic exercise may be able to significantly help reduce your symptoms of mageirocophobia by making it much easier for you to cope with the anxiety and stress that’s associated with this condition.

There are many different aerobic modalities that you can partake in to help reduce your symptoms of mageirocophobia, such as swimming, biking, skiing, walking, and jogging. You can also acquire the many benefits of exercise by playing sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, and racquetball, among many other sports. Engaging in some form of exercise consistently may be able to help relieve some of the pain associated with mageirocophobia over time.

Practicing Yoga for Mageirocophobia

There are numerous different yoga poses that can substantially benefit someone who is suffering from mageirocophobia. In part, this is due to the meditative state of mind that yoga tends to emit in those who practice it on a consistent basis. Yoga can be thought of as meditation in motion. It can help to relieve some of the anxiety associated with mageirocophobia due to the mere fact that by engaging in yoga, your attention will be redirected to something more productive.

There are many different types of yoga that someone with mageirocophobia can benefit from, such as hatha yoga or hot yoga, among many others. Nevertheless, regardless of the many different forms of yoga that exist, virtually all of them can help to relieve some of the stress and anxiety that is associated with mageirocophobia.

If you have never practiced yoga before, then it may be in your best interest to take a class or watch some guided videos that can help you through each pose. Just like with meditation, the more you practice yoga, the more adept you will become at it. Besides helping you to reduce your symptoms of mageirocophobia, you can also expect to acquire increased strength and flexibility, among other benefits.

Reducing Caffeine for Mageirocophobia

It is no secret that consuming large amounts of caffeine throughout the day can aid in making you more anxious. This makes sense when we look closely at how caffeine affects our body’s physiology. When we consume a high dose of caffeine, our heart will start to beat faster and we become more tense. Essentially, our body will begin to go into a “fight or flight” state of mind. Such a frame of mind is often a precursor for someone with mageirocophobia to experience panic attacks.

So, consuming little to no caffeine throughout the day may be able to significantly help reduce your day to day anxiety. Although doing so will likely not make all of your anxiety go away, it will indeed help you to reduce any unnecessary suffering that you would have otherwise experienced if you were to consume a large amount of caffeine.

Beverages like coffee and tea are often high in caffeine, as well as some energy drinks. In fact, even some foods have caffeine in them as well, such as dark chocolate. Being more conscious of your daily caffeine consumption may help you to reduce some of the symptoms associated with mageirocophobia.