(Emotional Eating by Art Caron first appeared in the Public Opinion Newspaper.) Are you actually hungry or just eating to deal with emotional stress? Art Caron, licensed clinical social worker and behavioral health therapist at Keystone Behavioral Health, shares how to tell the difference and what to do if you need help.
Emotional hunger or regular hunger?
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly and often in response to increased level of stress or uncomfortable emotions. Physical hunger is a gradual process in response to the body processing food. Emotional hunger will often focus on a specific comfort food, high in sugar, salt or fat whereas physical hunger views food as fuel, open to healthy options.
Emotional Eating
Emotional hunger often leads to mindless eating: trying to satisfy an emotional need by over-satiating a physical need. It often leads to uncomfortable emotions – regret, remorse and then a repeat cycle of coping. Emotional eating is initially started by an increase in stress and uncomfortable emotions. The body responds by reducing feel good hormones which intensifies the level of stress and reduces the ability to use problem solving skills and other positive ways to cope.
Unhealthy Choices
Food temporarily increases the level of feel good hormones in the brain under times of stress so food begins to change brain chemistry. The result—good feelings come from eating during emotional times. This is when the cycle of emotional eating begins. As with any potential obsessive behavior, the person becomes more dependent on eating to reduce stress. The brain feels that more is better and eating becomes the person’s primary coping skill instead of healthy alternatives.
Obesity
The person who suffers from emotional eating quickly begins to increase their caloric intake to a level well beyond what their activity level dictates. As a result, the person begins to gain weight, but does not recognize that their eating/ dietary habits have changed. They unfortunately continue this process to point of obesity, exposing them to a variety of health issues including coronary issues and diabetes.
What to do
If you’re concerned you suffer from emotional eating, try keeping an eating journal for at least two weeks. Do you notice patterns? When are you overeating? It’s important to identify what is causing stress and then address the problem rather than continuing to use food as a mechanism to avoid it. If you see a pattern, talk to your doctor. The best course of action is a combination of weight management and therapy.
For more information about Keystone Behavioral Health, click here.
