COMFORT EATING - Why do we do it?

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.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2021454/Why-comfort-eating-really-does-make-happy--soothed-fatty-foods.html#ixzz3UVeDIbUZ

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