Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ruziana_m@upm.edu.my
  • 2 Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
BMJ Case Rep, 2024 Dec 15;17(12).
PMID: 39675799 DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2024-259974

Abstract

We present a case of a woman in her early 30s who developed severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms following exposure to news reports about instant noodles allegedly contaminated with a carcinogenic substance. The news triggered an overwhelming fear of ingesting harmful food associated with persistent and intrusive thoughts about contamination in this patient. As a result, she adopted extreme food avoidance behaviours and restricted her oral intake for 2 weeks, causing significant weight loss and anxiety. Following a visit to her psychiatrist and a prescription for a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, her eating behaviours improved, and she could take her food without overwhelming fear. This case shows how OCD may mimic eating disorders and highlights how food-related obsessions can have a severe impact on health.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.