How is emotional eating disorder diagnosed?
The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) reports that emotional eating, or eating in response to emotions, is extremely common. In fact, most people do it at least occasionally. However, when emotional eating becomes a frequent occurrence and someone begins to feel that they cannot control their eating, it may be indicative of an emotional eating disorder.
There is no one specific test or criteria that must be met in order to be diagnosed with an emotional eating disorder. However, there are certain symptoms and behaviors that are common among those struggling with this disorder.
Someone with an emotional eating disorder may:
Eat in response to negative emotions, such as sadness, stress, anxiety, or boredom
Use food as a way to cope with difficult situations or numbing emotions
Eat even when they’re not physically hungry
Eat to the point of feeling physically uncomfortable
Have difficulty stopping eating once they’ve started
Feel guilty or ashamed after eating
Engage in binge eating, which is characterized by eating large amounts of food in a short period of time and feeling out of control during the episode
Someone with an emotional eating disorder may also be struggling with another mental health disorder, such as depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder. It’s important to seek professional help if you think you may be struggling with an emotional eating disorder. A mental health professional can help you understand your eating behaviors and develop healthy coping strategies..See page
What are the risk factors for emotional eating disorder?
What is emotional eating?
Emotional eating is using food to soothe negative feelings or to celebrate happy ones. It’s not about physical hunger, but rather using food as a coping mechanism to deal with stress, boredom, anxiety, sadness, or any other emotion.
While everyone indulges in emotional eating from time to time, it can become a problem when it’s done in response to every emotional trigger and becomes a regular habit. When emotional eating is a frequent occurrence, it can lead to weight gain and even an emotional eating disorder.
What are the risk factors for emotional eating disorder?
There are several risk factors that can contribute to the development of an emotional eating disorder, including:
• Family history. If you have a family member who suffers from an eating disorder, you’re more likely to develop one as well.
• Personality type. People who are perfectionists or who have low self-esteem are more prone to emotional eating.
• Dieting. dieting can trigger emotional eating because it’s often associated with feelings of deprivation.
• Stress. Emotional eating is often a way to cope with stress.
• Mood disorders. People with mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are more likely to turn to food as a way to cope with their symptoms.
If you have any of these risk factors, it doesn’t mean you’ll definitely develop an emotional eating disorder. However, it’s important to be aware of the potential and to take steps to prevent it.
How can you prevent emotional eating?
There are a few things you can do to prevent emotional eating, including:
• Be aware of your triggers. Identify the things that trigger your emotional eating and try to avoid them.
• Find other ways to cope. When you’re feeling tempted to emotional eat, find another activity to do instead. Go for a walk, call a friend, or read a book.
• Don’t diet. Dieting is a common trigger for emotional eating. If you’re trying to lose weight, do it in a healthy way that doesn’t involve deprivation.
• Seek help. If you’re struggling to control your emotional eating, seek help from a therapist or counselor.
Visit mengeredstoo.co.uk to learn more about emotional eating disorder. Disclaimer: We used this website as a reference for this blog post.