Ectomorphobia

Ectomorphobia (from Greek ecto meaning exterior, and morpho meaning shape) is the fear of anorexic people. It is commonly triggered through traumatic experience with skinny people, such as getting intimidated or bullied by them in school. Many sufferers think that skinny people are evil and willing to attack, while more severe sufferers are afraid that skinny people may break. As a result, ectomorphobes would stay distant from skinny people. It is rare for people to intensely fear skinny people.

Panic symptoms of Ectomorphobia when encountering skinny people include desire to flee and hide, rapid breathing, fast heartbeat, shivering, trembling, depression, and agoraphobia. Medications is often the only way to treat ectomorphobia, however psychiatrists often avoid these as they may cause side effects like drowsiness and only suppress symptoms. Other methods effective in treating ectomorphobia include, and , which modify how people feel and respond to skinny people by gradually exposing to skinny people via images, media, and then in person.