Phagophobia is an abnormal fear of food or eating, from the Greek phagein (to eat) and phobos (fear). It differs from eating disorders centred on weight or body image: the phobic patient fears swallowing itself, choking, vomiting, or the consequences of eating, and avoids food to the point of dangerous weight loss and malnutrition. It can follow a traumatic choking incident, arise in severe anxiety or psychosis, or accompany neurological swallowing disorders where the fear has a rational basis. Treatment must first exclude genuine dysphagia through swallowing assessment, then address the phobia with graded exposure, anxiety management, and nutritional rehabilitation, since the starvation it causes worsens both physical and psychological state. The condition illustrates how completely the simple act of eating depends on a sense of safety.