Stress Eating

 Heylo everybody!

Welcome back <3

I had dedicated all the posts in the November, 2021 to Eating Disorders.

I'm glad to share that we had an extremely successful event that month which brought in a great new number of readers as well. 

One peculiar observation I had made was that despite throwing limelight on such topics, there was still a bit of confusion in the air about what classifies as 'normal behaviour' and when it starts extending into a disorder.

Note: I'm not trying to diagnose you here considering I'm not a professional and don't have the authority to do so. This post will mainly be focussing on a few differences between an Eating Disorder and regular hunger pangs. 

Anyone who has met me in real life would describe me as an absolute foodie(something I'd say is hereditary in me :P). I love experimenting with new styles and dishes, be it street food or at a classy restaurant

Anyway, I've also had my share of stress eating before important events. 
I recently completed my board exams and that was just one such event where I experienced having such a dependency.

Everyone has different reactions to stress, and eating is a pretty common one. You can also call this term as 'emotional eating'. In some cases it can be due to excitement on hearing some good news but most times it comes into existence in a negative situation such as pressure. 

Some people eat less when they are upset, and others eat more when they’re feeling stressed. Emotional eating typically does not encompass feelings of body dysmorphia, in which a person feels pathologically negative about their body, or experiences a distorted perception of their body. 
At times they can be caused due to biological reasons among the youth such as peer pressure, hormonal changes and menstrual cycles. That's not something to be worried about because you know its only temporary.

The difference however lies that when this becomes frequent and is coupled with a few other symptoms as well, is when it starts becoming grave. One looks for comfort in food, a view it as a light of a therapeutic means of satisfaction.

    At times when we need to comfort ourselves, relax, take it all away, sometimes reaching for that special something to eat just does the trick.

Stress eating may lead to binge eating and a disorder but the point of this post was to convey that fact that its not always that serious and you don't need to overthink it much. The philosophy is simple:

Feeling physically unwell? Go to a doctor.
Feeling mentally unwell? Go. To. A. Doctor.

Don't sit at home lamenting about self diagnoses, its not a healthy thing to do.

To learn more on eating disorders and read my poem on self-diagnoses check out the link below:

Eating Disorder Awareness
Poem!

That was it for today's post! Hope I could clear out some questions that often float our minds. Don't forget to share, subscribe and follow for more! Stay tuned for next week's month 22 special of #faltufriday!

Signing off,

Kuhu :)