Labeling Your Eating Problem Correctly
A client recently had a eureka
moment when she realized that she didn’t have an eating problem per se, but a
psycho-emotional one that was driving her food abuse. She felt tremendous
relief in identifying her actual, underlying problem which pointed the way
toward more helpful solutions. Here are some possible problems you might have.
Most disregulated eaters have high anxiety and
use food to self-soothe. Eating is a symptom, not a root cause. Discussing
their history, they recognize that family members also have anxiety issues
which manifested in drinking, rigidity, a need to control, anger,
perfectionism, worry, and people-pleasing. They can see how their anxious parents
modeled and generated anxiety in them. The solution is to change anxiety-promoting
beliefs, lower stress, and practice self-soothing and stress-reduction
techniques.
Troubled eaters often are depressed and use food
to generate pleasure and lift their mood. Usually they can find a
thread of depression in their immediate or extended families. Of course,
imbalanced neurochemistry can underlie both depression and anxiety. Depression
is a combo of genetic inheritance/biochemistry and being raised by emotionally
unhealthy parents. The solution involves cognitive restructuring, exercise, and
finding short- and long-term pleasure in healthy ways.
Extended grief can also cause troubled eating.
The pain of losing and missing a love object can lead people to food to ...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs
More News: Anxiety | Biochemistry | Blogging | Depression | Genetics | Girls | Men | National Institute for Health and Clinical Excelle | Neurology | Pain | Psychology | Sports Medicine