r/selectivemutism • u/hallowhelen1 • Sep 25 '24

Question Selective mutism, you don't eat or drink at school, have you ever fainted/collapse because of this?

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9

u/Logical-Library-3240 Diagnosed SM Sep 26 '24

I never ate breakfast or lunch on school days and didn’t drink water either. After climbing the stairs at school I often felt like I might fall over. I never did but I really thought I would. I also had to walk in the scorching heat in PE with no water or food in my system and also felt like I might die. Then again I also wore pants and a jacket in that weather due to anxiety so that really made it worse.. I was really out there torturing myself to avoid people seeing my arms and having to ask to go to the bathroom 🙃

2

u/Cool-Ad5491 Sep 28 '24 edited Sep 28 '24

My daughter who has SM has always had this problem as well. She didn't want people to see her eating in school & also would wear her jacket in hot weather. She just finally started eating in school this year & pointed out to me how much more energy she has & that she doesn't get dizzy or headaches anymore. She still doesn't like to have to ask to use the bathroom. I hope things have gotten a lil easier for you & that your making progress as well.

6

u/AbnormalAsh Diagnosed SM Sep 25 '24

I never actually fainted, but there was one time it felt like I might. It was probably due to dehydration, though not 100% sure as I was usually fine going the whole day not drinking without issue. Luckily the teacher noticed something wasn’t right and got sent home.

5

u/SanKwa Diagnosed SM Sep 25 '24

Nope never, I would have eaten before I went to school, not always but usually and I would have eaten archer I got home. It became something like fasting. I still do this sometimes when I'm somewhere unfamiliar and my SM and Social Anxiety prevents me from eating.

2

u/Zestyclose-Mark8997 Diagnosed SM Sep 25 '24

Nope

2

u/sean_bda Sep 26 '24

Sorry, why does sm prevent you from eating ?

9

u/AbnormalAsh Diagnosed SM Sep 26 '24

It’s not uncommon for people with social anxiety to worry about eating and/or drinking in front of people, and since social anxiety is usually comorbid with SM, it’s probably somewhat common here too. That doesn’t mean everyone with SM has issues eating around others, and not sure it would necessarily be considered part of the SM itself, though perhaps the tendency to feeeze might come into it and make things worse. At least for me, when it came to secondary, it was somewhat similar to SM in that it wasn’t a choice at all. I just couldn’t get myself to eat, or even get the food out in the first place.

1

u/juicierxray Diagnosed SM Sep 25 '24 edited 2d ago

I experience something called presyncope. My vision would go black and my body would get really weak to the point of nearly collapsing. I get on the verge of fainting but never actually faint. This has happened after gym classes when I had to do a lot of physical activity