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Psychotherapy and Mental Health questions

Fear of Choking

Dear Dr. Schwartz,

I am a 32 year old female and ever since I was a 4 year old child I was diagnosed with a multitude of things. I was diagnosed with everything from Major Anxiety Disorder to, Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Agoraphobia, PTSD, Short Term Memory Loss and a few more that I can't remember.

To say the least, my childhood sucked and I feared dying on a daily basis. I have struggled with trusting people for most of my life. I don't see a therapist or anyone, to be honest, because I end up not trusting them. I work from home and receive disability.

My issue today is that out of nowhere, it seems that I have developed a fear of choking about 6 months ago. I realize that this is an anxiety of dying and that the choking fear is a symptom of that initial anxiety. But, it is taking over my life. I went from being a meat eater to only eating vegetables. Then, from a vegetarian to a vegan and now only liquids. When I ate solids it seemed that my food seemed to get stuck in the back of my throat. No matter how long I chewed my food I still panicked, believing that I was going to choke on chewed up food.

I despise all of my diagnoses as well as this new fear. I feel like I am being tortured by my mind. Can you please suggest any type of help or solution for me?

Thank You so much.

Sincerely

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