Psychology of Emotional Eating

The problem of emotional eating strikes women more often than men. The emotional eater tends to eat foods that are higher in calories as opposed to simply eating a larger quantity of food. It is thought that this eating helps combat stress and bothersome emotions.

Significance

• Gaining control of emotional eating can aid in losing (or gaining, in the case of anorexia) weight and improving self-worth. Emotional eaters tend to have a hard time controlling their weight, and this leads to esteem problems. The choices in food also contribute to poor health, which in turn leads to problems with self-confidence.

Types

• Emotional eating actually has several different types. The most common is the type mentioned above, in which the person indulges in foods that are sweet, calorie-laden and full of fat. Another type of emotional eating involves binging on foods, trying to fill an emotional void or deal with anger, sadness or boredom. Lastly, both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa could be classified as emotional eating, although the main underpinnings of these have to do with body image.

Effects

• Effects of emotional eating are extensive and include both psychological problems and physical ones. Psychological problems are already there simply because of the fact that the emotional eating is going on, but following this pattern continually can create even more problems, including depression, a full-force eating disorder, harboring of negative emotions and impaired self-esteem. Health problems include weight gain and possibly obesity, poor cardiac health, damage to internal organs such as the pancreas that regulates blood sugar and problems with appearance, such as acne.

Misconceptions

• People may believe that simply substituting healthy foods for fattier ones will end the cycle of emotional eating. But this adds another element that may be detrimental: the element of "you can't." Once someone starts making rules about what they can or can't eat, the forbidden food may become a major temptation, leading to even lower self-esteem when the person caves and eats the food.

Prevention/Solution

• To stop eating emotionally, a person must pinpoint why they are doing so. Keeping a food diary and notes of the emotions felt before, during and after eating can help identify triggers. If depression is an issue, talking to a therapist may help a person figure out what caused the depression, and once steps are made to overcome this, the emotional eating may also begin to subside.