Mageirochophobia (fear of cooking): symptoms, causes and treatment

Mageirochophobia is the excessive fear of cooking. Far from being about little preference or taste for said activity, mageirochophobia is characterized by triggering experiences of significant anxiety. Although it does not represent a specific clinical category, mageirochophobia is a term recently popularized in popular magazines or blogs, so it is worth reviewing where it comes from.

We will see below what mageirochophobia is, what are some of its manifestations and what strategies may be appropriate to modify it.

• Related article: "Types of Phobias: Exploring Fear Disorders"

Mageirochophobia: fear of cooking

The term mageirochophobia comes from the Greek "mageiros" which means "cook" or "butcher", and "phobos" which means "panic". The word “magiric” is also derived from the same word, which means “related to cooking”. The latter, together with the word "magirista" (cooking expert), had been present since the end of the 19th century to refer to the art of cooking and its history.

Thus, mageirochophobia

is the fear of cooking. As with all phobias, it is not only the daily rejection of cooking for food. In other words, it is not a preference for not cooking since it is easier or more convenient to eat outside the home or eat food made by someone else. A phobia is considered only that activity that triggers an irrational panic experience (not explainable by the cultural codes of the person) and therefore generates significant anxiety.

Mageirochophobia, however, not considered a specific clinical category nor has it been studied or characterized by psychopathology. For this reason, it is not considered so severe as to deserve treatment in itself, beyond psychological intervention aimed at several of its consequences.

• You may be interested in: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

Possible causes

The fear of cooking can be part of a broader spectrum of fears related, for example, with the small spaces that some kitchens have, with the social approval or disapproval, with the rigidity of instructions for some recipes, or with some previous experience related to utensils culinary. For the same reason, mageirochophobia It can manifest from a fear of being asked to cook, to preparing complex dishes in the oven.

Likewise, this fear may be related to how the person has been socialized in relation to the activity of cooking, that is, according to the norms and roles of their immediate surroundings. The latter includes expectations or demands that have been presented to him socially, and that may have led him to associate the activity of cooking as something unpleasant.

In other words, the above may have generated specific perceptions about the activity of cooking in the end. trigger discomfort or rejection. Thus, some of the main causes of mageirochophobia may be the following:

• Fear of suffering an injury or burn related to the cooking process.
• Fear of spreading viruses or diseases.
• Fear of preparing food poorly.
• Fear of the complexity of the recipes.
• Fears related to eating disorders.

Symptoms

As we saw before, the demonstrations may vary according to the person and their immediate context. In general, the manifestations of mageirochophobia include the refusal to cook accompanied by a Excessive avoidance by approaching the kitchen or any place where such activity is happening.

This means that panic could be triggered even by being in situations where someone else is cooking. Likewise, they accompany characteristic symptoms of anxiety, present in all phobias by definition: sensations of drowning, dizziness, sweating, agitation, chest pain, etc.

Treatment

The most widely used treatment for phobias is the cognitive-behavioral perspective, which consists of modifying the thoughts that are generated when rejecting the feared stimuli; in this case it would be the action of cooking. Likewise, it focuses on making a series of successive approximations to the stimulus, which can start by presenting simple images until getting closer and closer to a kitchen.

In the same way, this is combined with an important emotional accompaniment that reduces the anxiety levels of the person before the stimulus; and it can include a deeper exploration of the meanings associated with cooking, which allows them to be gradually modified or confronted.

Since mageirochophobia is most likely related to broader and more complex anxiety experiences, it is important to treat them as a whole. Mageirochophobia may be just one manifestation of a broader spectrum of anxieties, so it is necessary to know other dimensions of the person to be able to treat them. Otherwise, you can fall into the error of modifying behaviors only temporarily or superficially and motivated solely for social approval, beyond eradicating the conflicts that are in the background or around the mageirochophobia.

Some strategies to reduce anxiety in the kitchen

To achieve this, a gradual and deeper accompaniment is necessary. However, some simple strategies that can decrease the experience of anxiety specifically related to cooking are the following:

• make simple dishes and that do not involve risks such as burning or cutting, and cook more elaborate dishes little by little.
• Locate a favorite dish or a meal that is greatly enjoyed and try to prepare it, gradually becoming familiar with the instructions and utensils.
• Cook together with someone who inspires security and confidence.
• Cooking for other people, preferably close ones, to encourage social recognition.
• Do any of the above steps once a week and gradually increase the frequency.

Bibliographic references:

• Jason (2014). Mageirocophobia - Fear/Phobia of Cooking. Most Common Phobias. Retrieved August 22, 2018. Available in http://mostcommonphobias.com/mageirocophobia-fear-phobia-cooking/.
• Alberts, S. (2010). Overcoming Mageirocophobia- the Fear of Cooking. Huffpost. Retrieved August 22, 2018. Available in https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-susan-albers/overcoming-mageirocophobi_b_711520.html? guccounter=1.
• Quinion, M. (2010). Magiric. World Wide Words. Retrieved August 22, 2018. Available in http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-mag1.htm.
• Soier, A. (1853). The Pantropheon: The American Antiquarian Cookbook Collection. Andrews McMEel Publishing: Kansas, City.