Comfort eating... We’ve all done it! Even Bridget Jones does
it! And most of us are aware that we reach for comfort when something is out of
our control or we want to repress some depression, anxiety or sadness. However,
few of us are really interested in delving too deep in case we find a clue that
removes this coping mechanism...
Freud said that it was the ‘ID’ (0-18 months old) or child
in us that wanted to soothe itself with an oral action such as eating, sucking
etc.
Jung said that a baby has an indefinite yearning for
something to make it feel better, and that in later years this yearning becomes
something specific - like my taste for
salt and vinegar chips when I feel unsupported or criticised.
My chip then becomes an archetype for something lacking,
being repressed or a method to self-soothe.
I started comfort eating when I started to get bullied in
high school. I was fourteen at the time and had no skills with which to handle
it. I had often watched my mother comfort eat when she was feeling down and
wanted to treat herself, so this was my natural reaction. I had been
conditioned to do it, just as many women see this sort of action on television or
in films and think that it is a perfectly rational way to feel better. And it
is! We do what we have learned to do. We do what society has taught us is
acceptable!
Growing up we are often rewarded with food: “Here little one,
have a biscuit for being so good!”
But, this is where it gets interesting... Binge or comfort
eating is a non-conscious result of a sometimes unconscious desire, an unpleasant
truth arising or we are vaguely aware that we are suddenly lacking serotonin
and need a fast and easy top up.
Let’s face it. Food is a naughty pleasure when it is our
favourite junk food. It deals with our inappropriate feelings - which society
has told us are not to be released - under any circumstances! Do not show your
feelings! Arrrgh! Tuck it away!
An Unsafe World
The world is an unsafe place though and we long for the
nurturing of our mother’s breast.
Food eaten as comfort food is a metaphor for all that we
cannot and dare not say! It is a knee-jerk
reaction to all that we cannot fix about ourselves or are too busy to fix.
It helps the ego to overcome anxiety by ridding it of danger
and badness. Maybe even projecting onto food that which one cannot tolerate in oneself?
Peer pressure, bullying, criticism, authority,
over-extending ourselves, resentment, boredom and apathy, shame, inhibited
sexuality, questionable morality, self-judgement, conforming to values you don’t
agree with, peer pressure, stress at school to fit in, body image pressure, insecurity
during adolescence, feeling unsupported by family and friends etc; will bring
out the bad that needs to be transmuted to the good.
And nothing squashes a vocalised emotion quite like sending
something down the pipes (throat chakra) to stop the voicing of the pain!
It has to be made palatable!
It redirects a dangerous feeling into a safe feeling. The
child in you wants to avoid pain. It will absorb the pain as food.
The grown up you (Superego) wants to change the impulses to
socially accepted behaviours. Get it?
Fat Science
There is now scientific evidence that eating something with
fats and amino acids reduces our feeling of sadness; something we women have
intuitively known all along...
Excerpt from Daily Mail UK:
A team of scientists
led by Dr Lukas Van Oudenhove from the University of Leuven, in Belgium, used
MRI scans to assess the emotional impact of fat when injected into the stomach.
They recruited 12
healthy-weight volunteers and scanned their brainwaves as they were shown a
series of sad and neutral images as well as exposing them to sad and neutral
music.
They then inserted
either fatty acids or saline into their stomachs but didn't tell the volunteers
which was which. This meant they could bypass the effects of sensory
stimulation as well as any associations to childhood foods.
The scientists found
the music and expressions caused people's moods to fall across the board.
However, the levels of sadness among those who consumed fatty acids were around
50 per cent lower compared to those who received saline.
'Eating fat seems to
make us less vulnerable to sad emotions, even if we don't know we're eating
fat,' Dr Oudenhove told HealthDay.
Things that may increase your risk of developing comfort/ binge
eating include:
Low self-esteem and a lack of confidence
Depression or anxiety
Feelings of stress, anger, resentment
Boredom, apathy or loneliness
Dissatisfaction with your body and feeling social pressure
to be thin
Stressful or traumatic events in your past
A family history of eating disorders
A new set of values that conflict with your parent’s values
Stifled sexuality
A history of abuse: Emotional, physical and sexual abuse
Critical family. Never feeling good enough
A feeling of disconnection due to electronics/ social media
Over discipline as child. Rebellion against authority issues
Criticism about weight or eating habits
Bad diet causing low serotonin
Bad food habits such as: Food as reward or entitlement
Treatments:
·
Individual (one-to-one) counselling and psychological
therapy – such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
·
Setting a new daily schedule to avoid automatic
eating
·
Working out some techniques for distracting
yourself when you usually reach for the Tim Tams; such as cognitive behavioural
exercises.
·
Stress Busting Techniques: Such as relaxation,
meditation and breathing exercises. (Anxiety and panic attacks often happen
when we stop breathing properly.)
·
Reality Checking: Where is the evidence that
this is really something to fear or worry about? Write down your worries and
check for actual, proven evidence. Most of the things we worry about never
happen.
·
Ask yourself if your reactions are a mirror for
the things that you need to work on about yourself. Are you being an
unnecessary victim? Are you attracting this behaviour? Are you giving away your
power? Do you buy into a pecking order? Are you following someone else’s set of
values and rules - that do not work for you?
·
Keeping a food journal to figure out what
exactly triggers your binge eating. What were you thinking about before you
needed the food? Back up the behaviour to the source or thought...
Reaction or Behaviour (eating) > Emotion
Felt > Original Thought
·
Staying active and healthy with exercise and
supplements to enhance brain function and to better handle stress. (I
am not a medical professional, so please consult your doctor before trying new
supplements.) Such as: B vitamins, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Calcium. Herbs: Valerian, Kava, Brahmi,
Ginkgo, Peppermint, Rosemary, St John’s Wort. Homeopathic: Rescue Remedy. Avoid:
Coffee because it causes nervous tension and adrenal strain. MSG can cause mood
swings. And avoid depressants such as marijuana, opiates or alcohol.
·
Remember to do fun things just for you to build up
your self-confidence
·
Listen to your favourite upbeat music. It’s hard
to be sad when you are dancing!
·
Deal with your baggage! Forgive a few people!
All anyone in this world wants - is to be loved, understood,
accepted and cared for... There are no exceptions to this rule.
So, don’t put a band aid on your symptoms. Any work that you
do on yourself will pay better and longer dividends than taking a holiday.
See a counsellor or a therapist if you need to talk, just vent about
something that happened in 1982 or to come up with a sustainable life plan to
change your eating habits.
(Medicare offers bulk-billed therapy with a referral from your doctor in Australia. That's 10 sessions!)
You only get one you! Make it a good one, because like
the ad says, “You are worth it!”
It would not hurt your waistline either!
Love and loads of encouragement,
Ghita
Ghita Andersen
http://thecounsellingstudent.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/comfort-eating-why-do-we-do-it.html
