She was too chicken to try a new dish, until now.
Jessica Thompson, 11, has finally broken her 10-year streak of eating only chicken nuggets due to her struggle with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).
Thompson’s obsession with breaded chicken bites began around when she was 18 months old, according to mom Julia Cain, 49, from Wilshire, England. The source of her daughter’s phobia is a mystery, she told Mercury Press, but Cain ultimately reached out to a therapist who diagnosed Thompson with ARFID in September.
It would take about three weeks of work with hypnotherapist David Kilmurry to see the student branch out to new foods.
Kilmurry made headlines last year when he helped a teenager from Wales who had consumed predominantly sausage for most of his life. The therapist applied the same methods used to treat Simpson on Thompson.
Now, the former “fussy” eater is enjoying whole meals, including fruits and vegetables, with her family, according to Cain, who is finally looking forward to Christmas dinner this year.
The graphic designer said that her daughter stopped trying new foods suddenly. For years to come her diet consisted of only chicken nuggets and, on occasion, other bland snacks, such as white bread or french fries.
“Sometimes she would crawl into a ball to get away from the food,” said Cain, leading doctors to label Thompson as simply “fussy.”
“As a parent, all you want is for your child to eat,” said Cain. “People really don’t understand that it is an illness, not just fussiness.”
Kilmurry’s treatment involved meditation and goal setting in the form of an “achievement chart” to encourage Thompson. He knew the task was especially difficult for worried parents who aren’t equipped to treat phobias.
“Jessica came to me extremely unwell, lethargic and anxious,” said Kilmurry.
“Trying to get Jessica or any person with ARFID to consume is like trying to get an arachnophobe to hold a spider,” he explained. “It sends panic through a person’s body — retching, gagging and vomiting — just at the thought of an unsafe or new food.”
Since working with Kilmurry, Thompson has now tried at least 24 new foods, her mom said. “And even though she hasn’t liked all of them, this is a massive step forward for her.”
“It’s nothing short of a miracle that Jessica can eat a full plate of food now,” Cain added. “We hadn’t eaten a meal together as a family for years, and now we can.”