Emotional hunger leads the affected person to eat food to satisfy a false internal feeling of hunger. In reality, this eating binge is caused by a feeling of inner restlessness that, due to different factors, pushes the person to automatically eat food with the intention of calming this strange sensation. This maladjusted behavior, as long as it does not respond to real needs of the body and does respond to unconscious emotions, can cause physical and emotional problems.
In this Psychology-Online article we will talk about what is emotional hungerand how to overcome it. We will explain what this disorder consists of, what its causes are, how to differentiate it from real hunger and We will detail different ways to deal with this maladjusted behavior and improve the personal situation of people affected.
Emotional hunger is a eating disorder that leads the person to eating impulsively and uncontrolled with the intention of satiating a "false" feeling of hunger. Emotional hunger does not respond to real physiological hunger needs, but to affective, emotional or psychological needs of which the person suffering from it is not clearly aware.
As can occur with any other addictive psychological disorder, such as drug addiction, smoking, alcoholism, the vigorexia or emotional dependence, emotional hunger uses a non-fortuitous way of a "useless" (not useful) means to calm inner restlessness. In this case, food becomes the instrument used to silence emotions.
Emotional hunger responds to deep and intense negative emotions that remain in the unconscious. It is precisely this lack of awareness of their presence that generates a feeling of inner restlessness. that, for different and varied reasons, can be alleviated by excessive and uncontrolled intake of food.
Inner emotional discomfort, which gives rise to emotional hunger, is often the result of emotional deprivations, unsatisfied needs or unresolved conflicts, among others. Whatever the specific origin, it is activated by certain life situations and, as with other addictive behaviors, the person resorts to uncontrolled food intake as a means to calm this anxiety inside.
Currently, it could be said that it is a much more common problem than we might think. To different degrees and intensities, emotional hunger arises from emotional deficiencies that, today, are present to a greater or lesser extent in the majority of the population. In this article we delve into the doubt about why can't i stop eating.
Consequences of emotional hunger
It could be said that emotional hunger as a mechanism for solving the problem, as usually happens with all reactive responses to unconscious psychological conflicts, has a primary intention of helping us, by trying to reduce or remove internal discomfort vivid. However, given the negative consequences that it generates in the long term, it is an inadequate means that must be replaced by a more satisfactory and healthy resolution.
Next, we will mention what are the consequences of emotional hunger:
- Immediate discomfort after eating.
- Possible referral to larger problems, such as anorexia and bulimia.
- Loss of self-esteem.
- It disturbs the inner calm.
In addition, the food industries are dedicated to producing foods with certain substances, the consumption of which produces "instant relief", but not long lasting, of inner anxiety. For this reason, emotional hunger often triggers addictive and uncontrolled consumption of food which, due to their composition, are not healthy at all.
One way to tell if I'm emotionally hungry is to try to differentiate it from real hunger. In this way, once the emotional hunger is located, you will be able to implement strategies different from those applied so far to combat it, free yourself from it and adequately resolve your internal conflict latent.
According to the psychologist specialized in eating disorders, Manuel Antolín[1], emotional hunger differs from physical hunger in the following five ways:
- Cause: physical hunger appears due to certain nutritional needs that the body has at a certain time. Emotional hunger, however, arises as a response to certain internal psychological-emotional conflicts.
- Appearance: physical hunger manifests itself gradually and can wait, while emotional hunger arises more abruptly and with quite intensity and impatience.
- Satiety: physical hunger is covered once we have ingested the necessary nutrients that our body demanded. On the contrary, emotional hunger is hardly satiated despite the fact that, on many occasions, our body has been bloated by the food eaten.
- selected foods: physical hunger chooses those foods that, due to their nutrients, cover the physiological needs of the body. Instead, emotional hunger often craves foods that are devoid of nutrients and loaded with unhealthy substances, such as fats or sugars.
- Emotions that generates: after the satisfaction of physical hunger, the person is strengthened, calm and satisfied. Once a binge as a result of emotional starvation ends, the person feels disappointed in himself and sadness and anger often accompany him. Discover how to manage sadness in this article.
While emotional hunger is another addictive psychological disorder, our recommendation is try to find a solution as soon as possible to avoid greater evils in the medium or long term. Like any process of solving psychological problems, overcoming emotional hunger means moving along the path of personal self-knowledge, care and improvement of problem-solving strategies conflicts.
Here are some tips for managing emotional hunger:
- Start a work of personal self-knowledge to help you become aware of your problem and to help you investigate the causes that have originated it, since these types of disorders are a reactive response to an internal conflict.
- Learn to detect it and look for alternatives: Helped by therapeutic work, learn to detect when you feel emotional hunger, and not physical hunger, and look for alternatives that calm that inner restlessness. For example, you can go for a walk, breathe consciously, practice body relaxation, etc.
- Learn to eat healthy: on many occasions, emotional hunger originates as physical hunger connected to emotional dissatisfaction and, in case of not being controlled, leads to the excessive consumption of unhealthy foods that fill our body, without nourishing it with what needs. Eating healthy will cover your physiological needs and give you tools to overcome emotional hunger and eat healthy foods that "turn off" inner anxiety.
- call someone dear: in certain moments of solitude in which we remain inactive, emotional hunger is activated reminding us of our emotional emptiness. When you perceive their signs, call and meet good friends and loved ones to end the anxiety.
- Do everything that makes you happy: when you perceive signs of emotional hunger, you should focus on those actions that strengthen you to make any inner dissatisfaction disappear.
- Learn to control your impulses: If you want to overcome emotional hunger, when it appears, you must learn to control your impulses and, if you have started compulsive consumption, try to stop it.
- Heal your inner wounds: Therapeutic work will help you to heal the pain caused by your wounds and to print new images about yourself, about others and about life. This will mean the complete erasure of any symptoms of emotional hunger.
This article is merely informative, at 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.
