You're Not Alone (With Eating or Any Other Problems)

I wish I had a dollar for every client who’s said, “You’ll probably think I’m crazy, but…” and gone on to tell me something. Good thing that I know they’re not crazy and can reassure them. The truth is, as different as we all appear to be, underneath we’re pretty much the same and have relatively similar emotional experiences. In what ways do people feel alone and different from others? With food and in many aspects of life—eating food picked out of the garbage can, experiencing discomfort receiving compliments, ignoring a delicious, healthy dinner they’ve made and instead gorging on leftover Halloween candy, hating their overbearing parents, envying others’ successes, feeling defective, or wishing they were someone else.  Fearing you’ll be viewed as crazy implies a belief that your thoughts, behaviors, or feelings might be abnormal. In reality, nothing you or I or anyone else has ever (ever) felt is unique. The majority of our emotions are experienced by many, but perhaps not all, people. There are no new feelings under the sun and most feelings are universal.  We develop the mistaken belief that what we feel or think is abnormal—guess where?—in childhood. Maybe you were the only one in your family who was sensitive to slights or criticism. Or came from a family that didn’t share how they felt, so you never had a clue what was going on inside others. Or your parents denied their emotions, especially if they perceived...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: Source Type: blogs