Eating disorders often include out-of-control behaviors and thoughts that powerfully reinforce unhealthy eating patterns. Also, women and men with eating disorders frequently experience distorted views of their bodies (usually believing that they are too fat).
Diagnosis of Eating Disorders
Knowing whether you or a loved one has an eating disorder is key to beginning to move into healthier ways of living. But how do you find out whether an eating disorder diagnosis is appropriate in your situation? Many people have eating problems of various kinds. When should you decide to get help?
There is no substitute for talking with a qualified counselor, doctor, or dietitian. An eating disorder diagnosis can be firmly established only in this setting. Without face-to-face contact and a comprehensive interview process, it is very difficult to make good judgments about the scope or severity of an eating problem.
With this in mind, it can be helpful to know what goes into making a diagnosis for each of the major eating disorders.
Do We Know What Causes Eating Disorders?
What causes eating disorders? The short answer is that we don't really know yet. We do know, however, that there are many risk factors that seem to increase the chance of an eating disorder developing. Some of them can be avoided (dieting, for example) and some can't (gender and age, to name two).
Eating disorder risk factors fall into a number of categories. It is important to recognize that some of these factors overlap. In other words, some risk factors contribute to the development of other risk factors.
Understanding Emotional Eating
Emotional eating is a common phenomenon in which the urge to eat is not due to physiological hunger. In a culture in which food is incredibly abundant, emotional eating represents a convenient way for individuals to manage emotions that are uncomfortable. Why Call it Emotional Eating?
To be clear, the term emotional eating is not eating with your emotions openly displayed. It is rare for most people to consciously feel their emotions while eating.
Instead, emotional eating occurs in response to emotions that often go unnoticed. Though they may be under the surface, emotions become too difficult to control in the normal course of the day, and food provides a powerful distraction.
What Feelings Are Avoided With Emotional Eating?
Anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger, guilt...any uncomfortable emotion may be at the root of emotional eating.
Maybe I Eat Emotionally. So What?
Emotional eating can have a profound effect on quality of life. It can contribute to other eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, for example). But there are ways to treat emotional eating and the underlying problems that fuel it. Taking a step toward greater health may mean speaking with a counselor, learning more about solid nutrition, getting medical attention for chemical imbalances, or finding a support group.
Source:
Cumella, Edward J. and Darcy Tucker. “Emotional Eating.” Remuda Review 2006 (5): 38-44.