Overeating is often defined as a disorder characterized by food addiction and using food in order to cope with stress and reach comfortable state. "Thirty-three percent of adults who report overeating or eating unhealthy foods because of stress say they do so because it helps distract them from stress" (APA). After eating too much food these people often feel guilty and confused that can lead to more serious consequences. For example, to get rid of these feelings overeaters may turn to drugs which make them eat too much again.
Overeating affects a huge number of people, according to the statistics (Jade, 2010), "1 in 4 adults of both sexes trying to control their weight have Binge Eating Disorder", "6% individuals in the adult community as a whole describe themselves as “Compulsive Eaters”." In contrast to Binge Eating Disorder, compulsive overeaters feel that they cannot control themselves and they often undertake actions to overcome this problem and control their weight.
For deeper investigation of overeating problem it is important to understand main reason which lead people to compulsive binging. One of them is social influence and external environmental factors. Nowadays society is too weight oriented, mass media promote thinness and show most models and actresses who fit to generally accepted beauty standards. Here it is possible to ponder over how such propaganda may lead to overeating disorder. The answer consists in following: women feel pressure to correspond to opinion of the society: they exhaust themselves by diets, stint themselves of carbs and sweets. Such actions may turn out to be dangerous for people who are concerned about their weight, after diets people often break down, overload their organism on carbohydrates and sugars, overeat and damage their health. There is a belief that diets make people depressed, provoke low mood and increase the desire for eating unhealthy food or make people continue eating when they are full.
It is a fact that many people eat to improve their emotional state and people learnit from the early childhood. Kids are often rewarded with food such as sweets, people are used to eat at social occasions or when they are bored and have a lot of time. As for overeaters, it was proved that they often experience mood changes and strong emotions like anger or anxiety may cause compulsive eating. Thus, treatment of overeating should include teaching how to cope with a variety of emotions and moods without food. In such cases initially it is necessary to find the source of stress and negative emotions in order to find the best way to manage difficult situations.
Other causes which lead to overeating may consist in genetic mutations in organisms of certain people. Some of those who suffer from compulsive overeating may feel constant hunger even when they are indeed full. Appetite and weight control involve a great amount of genes; it was found that in rare cases one missing gene can make people feel hungry. Such problem may be solved by proper injections and medical intervention.
"as personal issues, childhood problems, recent deaths or losses, relationship problems, etc."
Psychotherapy is considered to be one of the most effective ways to struggle with overeating disorder. There are numerous cases when people continue eating when they are full. Here medical treatment and psychotherapy may help because often the problem is more mental than physical. Food can be considered as addiction when people feel pleasure when eating something that is forbidden or harmful. Popular opinion that it is possible to become addicted to refined foods and sweets is associated with psychological direction because when "such persons are given white flour and sugar in blind trials, they do not show increases in cravings or loss of control."(Jade, 2010).
Overeating caused by depression may be treated with antidepressants, some other new and complex medications can influence on brain areas which regulate compulsive binging. It can be a successful experience to change behaviors connected with overeating in a struggle against this disorder. Certainly, such intervention requires strong will power and backing if the main goal is to overcome overeating problem. It does not mean that overeaters have less will power than those who eat normally, they just need to get rid of strong cravings for food. In general, a person controls his or her own behavior in accordance with desired goals and external influence. It refers to special adaptive mechanisms inherent to any individual, but speaking of behavior, it is the result of relationships between stimuli and observable responses.
There is an opinion that overeating is a habit, in other words, subconscious actions caused by frequently repeated learning. Relative to these assumptions, neuroscience explains goal-directed behaviors and stimulus-response behaviors, where normal eating refers to the first group. Overeating is associated with the second group of behaviors, when stimuli and response vary depending on individual emotions, feelings and conditions. It is considered that consequences and perspectives make significant contribution to how brain gives impulses in everyday life while previous learning and memory are key aspects of these processes; healthy eating should be transformed into a habit.
Effective treatment of overeating disorder cannot be conducted without a professional therapist who can identify the problem and analyze all eating history of a patient. In accordance with found information the professional would turn to emotional or physical factors which play a great role in one's eating habits.
Reference List
American Psychological Association. Stress and Eating. Trying to eat our way to stress relief. http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/eating.aspx
Jade, D. (2010). Compulsive Eating & Binge Eating Disorder. National Center for Eating Disorders. Retrieved from http://eating-disorders.org.uk/information/compulsive-overeating-binge-eating-disorder/
Safro, S. (2005). Compulsive Overeating Disorder: Genetics Vs. Behavior. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro05/web1/ssafro.html
