Stress, repressive beliefs, and unresolved repressed emotions wait to be satisfied. Therefore, we satisfy these emotions by eating.
Excess weight is a serious health problem for today's people. The weight loss industry generates huge turnovers. Diets, diet foods, plastic surgery, slimming salons and medications are the remedies that people use to lose weight. But none of these give permanent results.
People are more obsessed with "what" they eat and "how much" they eat than "how and why" they eat. What we eat and calorie counts are not very important compared to why we eat.
The real questions we need to ask ourselves are: How do I eat? Why do I eat?
Food is everywhere, all the time. It is very easily accessible. Eating is enjoyable. It has been a symbol of safety and trust since our infancy. When we are bored or empty, our easiest solution is to eat.
Food addiction is an effort to fill the emotional void within with the act of eating. A food addict eats even though he is not hungry, based on his emotional needs. If he needs to calm down, he prefers carbohydrates, and to speed up and enjoy himself, he prefers sugar.
Food addicts are often on a diet and always have a reason to eat. They are in the "I was sad, I ate, I was happy, I ate" mode.
When we observe a food addict behaviorally, we generally see that they are cheerful, affectionate, childlike, motherly, smiling and helpful. All these features can be masks to control and hide their angry, unhappy, melancholic and sensitive nature. They deceive themselves by saying "I'm fat, I'm happy", I can eat as much as I want, I'm happy with my situation, and after a while, they believe in these masks so much that they feel like they're wearing them. They think they are masks.
People who are addicted to food do not always have to be overweight. They do not eat much around others. The times when they eat are secret. Just like an alcohol addict constantly tries to minimize the amount of alcohol he consumes, a food addict also minimizes the amount he eats, but when he is alone, he cannot control how much he eats. Once they are past their fullness point and have eaten enough to become physically uncomfortable, they begin to feel regret, guilt, and shame. As a result of their thoughts about themselves and disliking themselves:
-not looking in the mirror
-not standing out
-jealousy, resentment
-feeling of worthlessness
-constant need for approval
-emotional fatigue
-sterilization of social life
-isolation
-distrust They can survive.
Food addicts have very high levels of manipulation. They try to control the relatives they live with by emotional exploitation and maintain their addictions. They experience outbursts of anger that they cannot control from time to time, and all of these become excuses to eat again and again.
While losing weight, maintaining the weight, and not gaining weight again is the first step to recovery, the more you gain weight. Re-establishing the collapsed emotional structure, receiving psychological support for healthy individualization and personal development is the biggest supporter of the treatment.
Derya Çetin
Addiction Counselor
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