Refuses to eat when bad thoughts appear

[MissMysticFalls]

Does this ring a bell with anyone? My son has a good appetite and eats healthy foods but frequently will sit down to (sometimes a favourite) dinner and suddenly drop his cutlery, burst into tears and say he can't eat some or all of it because of bad thoughts in his head.

Often it's a particular colour of food, e.g. red (associated with blood) or green or white (associated with something else he's seen in the world e.g. a dead woodlouse or on children's tv that's disgusted or upset him).

Hugely frustrating and hard to deal with as it doesn't seem to be attention-seeking and genuinely upsets him. I've tried distracting him with other things, I've tried tough love (he'd rather go hungry), extra love, and just accepting it. But it's gone on for quite a while now and I've run out of ideas. He's six by the way.

Thanks!

I don't have any personal experience of this but I agree with you, this isn't attention seeking it seems he is really distressed by something.

It sounds like it could be an anxiety issue of some sort. I would take him to your GP as if he is having thoughts that scare him, whatever they may be, that must be quite distressing for him and you want to try and resolve this, if possible, in case this issue progresses to more than just meal times.

Maybe you could try and have a talk with him each time he mentions these bad thoughts. If he can tell you exactly what is bothering him at the time, maybe a gentle chat could reassure him that, we can't control what pops into our head but that we should talk about it. If he receives reassurance that everything is okay that could help.

Good luck

Thank you becci I wondered about seeing a GP or someone at school but thought I might be over-reacting so it's good to have somebody else suggest it.

I'll persist with talking to him. It's a set of recurring images that he thinks about and sometimes he doesn't want to tell us because "they're too disgusting" and doesn't want us to hear them. Poor lamb.

Thanks for replying.

Gosh that must be awful for him, bless his heart. It definitely sounds like anxiety. In simple terms, that's how I'd describe mine! A horrible thought that scares you.

I think taking him to the doctors and talking with him to reassure him that they are only thoughts, thoughts can't hurt us and that he isn't a bad person for having these thoughts might help. He probably feels confused and alone. If he understands that we all have unpleasant thoughts from time to time he might feel more normal and hopefully begin to overcome them.

Thanks for your support. I'll get on to it when the surgery opens again next week and try reassuring him like you suggested.