Hi everyone, I have a 7 year old brother who's suffering from a specific phobia. He suddenly developed an extreme fear of choking and refuses to swallow. Now he barely eats liquid food, and even with such food he chews for 10 minutes on a teaspoon size portion and takes about 2 hours to finish a small bowl. He can't eat anything that's solid or sticky, not even bananas. This has been lasting for a month already, we thought things would get better, that it's just a temporary thing but by the looks of it now, it doesn't seem to be.

Has anyone here heard of a phobia of swallowing? Or have family members who've gone through something similar? I really don't know what to do...he's only 7 and we've been to countless doctors already and I can't think of anything that could have possibly triggered this. My mom's so exhausted by him...please help! I'd appreciate any advice, thank you!