Can Counseling Address The Issue Of Emotional Eating?

Psychological factors also play a large role in obesity. Many people eat in response to negative emotions such as sadness, depression and anger. These people are generally binge eaters. During a binge eating episode, a person eats large amounts of food and feel that they cannot control how much they are eating. These people have more difficulty losing weight and keeping it off than others without a binge eating problem. It is common that binge eaters suffer from low self esteem and depression.

Psychological issues normally involve food being used as a comfort for some stressor that has become present in the person’s life. These individuals turn to food to contend and manage certain mood swings or the up and downs that are present in day to day challenges. These changes could be triggered from stress, being lonely, or frustration. When they become upset, they turn to food as a comfort like a baby to a pacifier. The comfort or high like effect is only temporary as the weight piles on with every calorie that is taken in and not burned off. The resulting guilt may cause this process to occur many times throughout the day, developing into a continuous pattern of using substance to deal with psychological imbalances. Unfortunately, this scenario plays out all too many times in America.

There are two theories on why we get hungry; these theories are called the Set or Settling Point theory, and the other is the Positive – Incentive theory. The Set or Settling theory differs a bit in the point of optimal weight (or fat/energy level) however the basic idea is the same. In this theory everyone has a set point (or an equilibrium) where the body is using the stored energy, and if the body is above this point then it does not become hungry if it is below the set point the body is lacking

Eating disorder counselors have many different work environments. The environments can consist of hospitals, mental health clinics, prisons, and even in their patients’ homes.

Jacquelyn Ferguson’s article “Does Cortisol Cause Weight Gain, Depression and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?” in Corporate Wellness Magazine explores the negative side effects of chronic cortisol levels on the body. The first negative effect of cortisol is an increase in weight. Since cortisol acts to recharge your body after you encounter stress, it sends a hormone signal for you to replenish your nutritional storage, causing hunger. Unfortunately, when you are stressed, you tend to crave foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugars because that is the fuel that your muscles use during the fight or flight response. This usually leads to weight gain and storage of “visceral fat” around your midsection.

It is probable that most people think about food than any other thing throughout their life time. It is funny to realize that even some people think about the next meal while they are having their current meal. Fresh fleshy fruit can stimulate a craving for food even when a person is on a full stomach. It is true that people and all living things require nutrition to survive. However, some eating cravings are just not normal. This is due to various hunger simulation reasons. The motivation to eat is propagated by more than just the need for body nourishment. The hunger motivation influences are, thus, either internal or external.

Research has established emotion regulation difficulty experienced by individuals in both clinical and normative sample populations as a putative risk or maintaining factor in psychopathology (Berenbaum, Raghavan, Le, Vernon, & Gomez, 2003; Greenberg, 2002; Kring & Bachorowski, 1999; Mennin & Farach, 2007). Different coping styles for emotion dysregulation have been observed in these populations (Aldao, Nolen-Hoeksema, & Schweizer, 2010). Various studies have demonstrated that attempts to escape from or down-regulate negative affect place individuals at risk for alcohol and substance abuse, disordered eating, and clinical eating disorders, resulting in a challenged physical and psychological well-being (see Aldao et al., 2010). There is evidence that suggest that in response to the control of negative affect (for example, depression, anxiety, and stress); eating behaviours are associated with both increase and decrease in food consumption (Fairburn & Harrison, 2003). In particular, depressive symptoms, as it is experience in both clinical and non-clinical population has been linked to symptoms of bingeing (Mason & Lewis, 2014), bingeing and purging, and restraint (Fairburn & Harrison, 2003). Research has shown that depression is experienced by approximately 45% to 86% of individuals with an eating disorder (O’Brien & Vincent, 2003). A maladaptive coping strategy of abnormal eating to manage affect, which may later develop into an eating disorder, can potentially have

Health and emotional conditions such as depression can lead to a loss of appetite as well as a lack of interest in food and drinks. Being depressed can make them want to be on their own, becoming socially isolated can affect their nutritional needs as they won’t feel like eating. A person with dementia may use up extra calories due to increased activity such as if they are agitated, restless, through wandering and pacing making their nutritional needs change. Forgetting to eat or not remembering if they have eaten will change their nutritional needs, be it increasing/decreasing their intake, lastly paranoia can make them suspicious of food.

Psychology today also states that, “you really crave rich foods when stress is unrelenting. And a very special and well-meaning collaboration between your brain and your body makes you do it.” When we have had a stressful day or have a lot of stuff to get done our brain thinks that the easiest release is to eat, we seek chocolate, ice cream, or any sweet rich foods. This causes our body’s to think that it is always okay to eat crap when we feel overwhelmed. In conclusion, overeating can be caused by a lot of things that are not needed.

depression, anxiety, and eating disorders) may have more difficulty controlling their consumption of food, exercising an adequate amount, and maintaining a healthy weight (Collins & Bentz, 2009).Food is often used as a coping mechanism by those with weight problems, particularly when people are sad, anxious, stressed, lonely, and frustrated. In many obese individuals there appears to be a perpetual cycle of mood disturbance, overeating, and weight gain (Collins & Bentz, 2009). When feeling distressed, some may turn to food to help cope. Eating may create a temporary comfort; weight gain may cause a dysphoric mood due to their inability to control their stress (Collins & Bentz, 2009). Overeating and obesity can prove to be deadly to an individual. Obesity has a far-ranging negative effect on health (Effects, 2015). Each year obesity-related conditions cost over 150 billion dollars and cause an estimated 300,000 premature deaths in the US. The health effects associated with obesity include, but are not limited to, the following: high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, sleep apnea, cancer, metabolic syndrome, and psychosocial effects (Effects,

Children who have poor responses to stress are or are at higher risk of becoming overweight or obese. It is possible that factors like living in poverty, violent surroundings, or in homes where food is not always available are all factors that may increase eating in the absence of hunger, thus increasing children's risk of becoming obese. Studies show that even if someone cuts down carbs, exercises, and controls genetic problems children may still suffer from obesity due to stress (Cummins, 2015). The body’s hormones can fluctuate due to the onset of stress. The most prevalent is cortisol, which is referred to as the “stress hormone.” When the stress becomes chronic, the body begins to overproduce cortisol. Cortisol levels that are too high,

Many people today eat when their emotionally such as because the person is bored, sad, anger or even happy. Obesity can be caused by things like stress or depression and can cause a number of different health implications. For example a person that is obese is more likely to have diabetes later in life and also suffer heart problems. Over 30% of today’s population seek treatment for weight problems and this is all caused through binge eating. Binge eating is when someone eats large amount of food while feeling they can’t control how much they are eating, people who seriously binge and a very obese develop a disorder call binge eating disorder. The people with this kind of eating disorder find it difficult to lose weight and also find it difficult to control how much they are eating. Many people may need serious help for example counselling or medication or even operation to

There is an understanding that motivation is a driving force on behavior, but what remains unknown is where the purpose and execution of a motivated behavior converge within the brain. The hypothalamus plays an essential role in the integration of sensory information to direct motivated behaviors that maintain homeostasis in the body. A behavior that largely results from motivation is feeding, which has a reinforcing and rewarding property that stimulates the want for food. Feeding behavior illustrates regulation at the level of the hypothalamus a want supported by the dopamine reward system, and a relationship between food and mood provided by serotonin.

in Chao 204). A few of the mental and health issues one can acquire from emotional eating include: obesity, binge eating disorders, and an overall negative body image. “Studies suggests that emotional eating may be one of the factors that contributes to obesity, as emotional eaters have been shown to consume more energy-dense foods in response to negative emotions than non-emotional eaters” (qtd. In Chao 204). Overeating unhealthy food will create an unhealthy weight as well as a negative body image. Once people view themselves as overweight they will want to do something about it. Some people might start a diet; whereas others might eat more as they are emotional eaters. People who want to lose weight but continue to overeat could develop an eating disorder. One eating disorder having to do with overeating is binging. Binge eating disorder is “an eating disorder characterized by recurring episodes of binge eating accompanied by a sense of lack of control and often negative feelings about oneself but without intervening periods of compensatory behavior (as self-induced vomiting, purging by laxatives, fasting-or prolonged exercise)” (Binge Eating Disorder”). A person who binges feels bad about eating large amounts of food but does not do much about it. Comfort food is used to make one feel good, but instead it could cause one to feel dissatisfied and

Eating disorders stem from a combination of psychological, biological, and social factors. Feelings of depression and anxiety along with daily stressors can contribute to