I have this and let me tell you, it definitely isn't just picky eating.

I get intense anxiety, comparable to exposure to a phobia source, any time certain foods go near my mouth or if I even think about eating them. Every day I try to eat new foods because it's hurting my health, and while I'm making slow progress, most of the time I'll try to eat it and immediately start gagging and get debilitating nausea.

From what I understand, when most people say they "don't like" a food, they just mean they don't particularly enjoy the taste, but they're perfectly capable of eating it if they choose to. I, on the other hand, could have a gun to my head with the only way out being to eat a single spoonful of peanut butter, and even if I could force the spoon into my mouth, I would puke the moment I taste it...and I actually LIKE the flavor of peanut butter

I understand that it's difficult to empathize with situations unfamiliar to you, but please try. ARFID is 110% a real disorder, and people suffer from it. The least you can do is not make their lives worse just because they're different.