by Bridget Webber

Created on: November 11, 2010

Emotional eaters can find themselves gaining weight gradually over time. The quantity of food they eat increases to serve as an emotional barrier against upset, and fill a gap where negative emotions, such as loneliness and hurt, reside. People who eat due to emotional causes often also reach for high fat content food which is immediately satisfying and gives then a temporary high. Weight gain is a result of eating more food than is necessary, and food which is high in calories.

While some people find they simply can't eat much when they experience intense emotions, others find the opposite is true for them. Over eating, and binge eating is often the result of having an urgent emotional need which goes unfulfilled. Eating is an attempt to subdue this need, and is only a temporary fix.

Emotional eating can also become a habit people rely on when they feel anxious or needy. It's often simpler, and faster, to cope with an emotional problem by stifling it with doughnuts or pizza, than actually dealing with its root cause. Once an individual becomes accustomed to treating their emotions in this manner, it can be difficult to stop and a behavioural pattern develops.

Food, eaten for emotional reasons, can be likened to an addiction. The short bursts of high energy and feelings of wellness produced can make people want to repeat the pattern of stuffing down emotions with food time after time. Sugar and fat serve as a temporary plaster to cover up painful emotional sores, but once the plaster is no good any more the pain returns, and requires the individual to eat more again to make it go away.

Weight gained in this manner can be a shock to the emotional eater who then feels extra stress when they realise the physical results of eating unhealthily. Knowing how to successfully deal with the problem becomes a problem in itself. Emotional eaters often begin a cycle of binge dieting, followed by binge eating when their emotions get out of control, and they don't know how else to satisfy their craving for food which makes them feel better for a small amount of time.

For emotional eaters, being told that you need to pull yourself together and stop stuffing yourself with food only serves to cause depression and further anxiety. Getting out of the pattern of eating to relieve emotions is hard, and can feel like an impossibility. When people don't understand you it can be difficult to explain to them why you behave as you do with regards to food. Thus finding supportive help isn't easy.

Just as with dealing with any other addiction, emotional eating takes time and perseverance. Unlike some other addictions, over eating and consuming unhealthy foods is more acceptable in our society and can go unnoticed, or be taken as being normal. However, dealing with your emotions in this way is an unbalanced behaviour which is best altered. Gaining professional support from a counselor, and even an organization such as Weight Watchers, can help give you the motivation and understanding you need to change your eating habits.

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