Obsession, binge eating, and food addiction are intertwined, overlapping, but they are different things. Binge eating is mental, it is the act of eating beyond physical well-being, the person feels out of control and tries to satisfy a hunger that cannot be satisfied with food.
As for the obsession with food, it can be mental or physical and it is a fixation for food that could be related to the previous two. It can be mental when you go off the diet because you think that you should not eat certain foods that we want desperately and it can be physical, when we are hungry and can't think of anything other than food. In this Psychology-Online article, we explain how to overcome obsession for food and what are some of the reasons that this obsession is generated.
The food obsession is probably the culmination of several interacting factors giving rise to the obsessive thoughts. A person can develop an obsession with food as a result of biological, psychological or social reasons. Biological causes that can influence the progression of a food addiction can include hormonal imbalances, abnormalities in various brain structures, side effects of the use of certain medications or having family members with these types of problems addiction.
Food obsession can also be the result of psychological factors. Factors included in this category would be emotional or sexual abuse, being a victim or survivor of a traumatic event, have an inability to cope in a healthy way with negative situations, chronic low self-esteem, or experience pain or loss.
Psychological factors such as these can lead a person to use food as a Defense mechanism to alleviate the painful emotions that are experienced in certain. Finally, there are social implications that may be related to the obsession with food, including factors such as disturbances in the unit. family, peer or societal pressure, social isolation, child abuse, lack of social support, and life events stressful.
Food addiction can also be associated with other co-occurring disorderssuch as eating disorders (binge eating disorder) or substance abuse.
To know how to overcome the obsession with food, it is important to know if we are really suffering from this problem. This food addiction can be recognized by numerous signs and symptoms.
The following list are some of the possible symptoms of food obsession:
- Eat to the point of Feeling sick
- Craving for amounts of food that a person cannot physically tolerate
- Continue eating certain foods even if you are not hungry
- Eat in secret
- Avoid social interactions, relationships, or functions to spend time eating certain foods
- Spending a significant amount of money on food
- Decreased energy, chronic fatigue
- Difficult to focus
- Sleep disorders, such as insomnia or excessive sleep
- Restlessness
- Irritability
- Headaches
- Digestive disorders
- Suicidal thoughts
For some, food addiction may be a physical necessity and may be related to bingeing, as we often eat highly processed foods that can produce changes in the brain and lead to whim. But food addiction can also be mental, a "process" of addiction derived from the way we have learned to deal with certain situations / feelings.
Break away from obsessive thoughts
When the obsession with food begins to exceed the limits you must try to change its physical location. This can be very difficult for you. As soon as you find the strength to break the obsession, you will feel free (as long as the kitchen is not your preferred destination and you do not progress towards bingeing).
Sometimes when obsessive thoughts about food do not leave us it is good to do whatever absurd body movement, even getting up from a chair, to distract the mind and can eliminate a negative obsessive thought.
Determine if you are hungry or obsessed
The next step is that identify if you are really hungry. Normally, there are people who begin to obsess over food right after they have finished eating a meal, they are saddened by the thought that that moment is over and they want to lengthen it.
So most of the time the food obsession starts to take off, there is no real hunger.
If you are really hungry, you can do a small self-assessment about what your body is asking for and feed it.
If you're not hungry, do a little self-assessment on what your brain is really asking for. If you feel very out of control, try to keep moving your body and try to refocus your thoughts before eating food again.
Talk about it
If the above doesn't work, it may help to talk about it. Sometimes when we can't break the obsession on our own, calling someone who knows our situation and telling them what's going on in our head can help us. Sometimes removing the thoughts prevents us from continuing in the vicious cycle of obsession.
If talking about your obsessive thoughts about food doesn't make you feel comfortable, you can write them. The goal is to get rid of those thoughts.
Look for other sources of happiness
Throughout our lives we can become obsessed with all kinds of things. Most of these things can be avoided, but in this case it is not like that, because we cannot avoid food, we have to eat. But we must not forget that food does not have to be our only source of happiness. The exchange of one obsession for another is not really appropriate. But including new activities in your day-to-day life can help you focus on more than just food, redirecting some of your energy and thoughts to something else.
Divide a giant obsession into various rewarding activities It will give your mind a chance to focus on other things. There are more things in life than food, but our job is to find out what those things are.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
