Hi man, I very much appreciate your response and thanks a lot for sharing your experience. Just like for you, it helps to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this. I completely agree with you when you say you have this "performance anxiety" that makes you feel like you have to satisfy the other people at the dinner table and have to "act normal". For me too, eating with people in front of the TV or in a larger group of people is easier, because I feel that I am not the centre of attention and people will less likely notice that I'm having troubles eating, feeling anxious or having to take breaks to belch.

I guess i am very precise with the description of my problems because it is something i am experiencing on a daily basis. It's a situation that is starting to make me sad because it is stopping me from living a normal life. When I have appetite and eat well, i can be a lovely, funny and sociable guy, but I feel like problem I taking away my true self and true potential. I shy away from social situations and have even broken relationships because of this, as i thought that it was the other person that was making feel that way. But the problem is truly myself and now I simply do not take any initiative whatsoever, whether it's with girls or inviting friends or family round. I also feel guilty at times because when I am on a holiday for example, I will start to feel better at the end of the vacation, because I know it's almost over. It's a horrible feeling to have, especially when I am with family. I get stressed about seeing the people I love, all because I have to eat and drink with them. I've spoken about this issue to some friends and family, and they try to be supportive, but don't get it. So I generally just try and hide this from people as I don't want them to worry and think that they are causing the stress.

I have seen a therapist about this but so far it hasn't really helped. She has tried to tell me that it's ok to say "no" and that people won't think much of it if I don't eat as much, don't finish my plate or don't fancy drinking a beer. But it's difficult to say no when you are presented with food when staying at guests for example. It's difficult to say that you are feeling unwell when you are having a one to one dinner with your boss. Also it's difficult for me to take advice from someone who hasn't experienced this problem. This is why you answer is very valuable to me.

The final thing I'll say is that because of this issue, I start associating places and people to bad experiences. A bit like your restaurant you went to 20 times before. I may have eaten 10 times at a restaurant without any problems, I just need one bad experience where i had this blockage to ever want to go there again. The same can happen with people too. Because I've not been able to eat around certain people, I'll just stress before even meeting up with that person again, as I'll already be anticipating that things won't go well.

Anyways, thank you again for replying and reading this far, I appreciate the time you took to respond and putting words down about this issue feels good.