Phagophobia

Phagophobia is a psychogenic dysphagia, a fear of swallowing, expressed through various swallowing complaints with no apparent physical cause detectable by physical inspection or laboratory analysis. It is classified as a specific phobia and, under the DSM-IV, falls in the category of other phobias; an older term for the condition, choking phobia, was judged confusing because it fails to distinguish fear of swallowing itself from fear of choking. Phagophobia may lead to, and be confused with, a fear of eating and the malnutrition and weight loss that follows, and in milder cases a sufferer eats only soft or liquid foods.