Do you always eat because you’re really hungry and your stomach is growling, or is there something else you’re not aware of that has to do with your psychology? Do you sit at the table and eat with your family and company, or alone, in front of the TV and sometimes secretly from others? There are many question marks, but there are explanations, and today with this article we will analyze all the thoughts, motivations, feelings and actions that lead to overeating.
No one wants to be overweight, but we live in an era of hyper-consumerism, where we are bombarded with challenges and temptations for comfort food on the one hand, and on the other hand, there is constant advertising. campaigns for weight loss institutes, crash diets, passive fitness, miracle pills, drinks, liposuction, plastic surgeons who promise miracles with quick and easy results fat.
This results in consumer disorientation and an internal conflict between need and compulsion. So the thinking behind all of this is that while I want to enjoy and consume a lot of food, I also need to have an effortless, easy and proper body shape that meets social standards in order to be liked. simple. No effort.
More specifically, according to recent survey data in Greece, more than half of Greeks are overweight or obese, and Greece ranks first in the European Union for childhood obesity. A sedentary life does not help this, whereas in the past people were more tired because they were doing more manual work. A person’s normal weight is something that is determined by his genes, i.e. heredity, metabolism, physical activity and also psychology.
The body is stressed and reacts with severe hypocaloric diets, resulting in bulimic attacks, especially at night when it is dark and everyone is asleep (even the conscious self). This results in the body enduring a period of deprivation imposed by a strict diet, but it either becomes exhausted, stressed, or stops the diet, or reacts to the end by regaining all the pounds and possibly more.
That’s why it’s important to talk proper diet and not for dieting, as most dieting attempts are doomed to failure, while knowledge and education about healthy eating has been shown to produce better results.
What makes people overeat?
There are many reasons, each person is different and the psychological factor plays a big role, below we will refer to some of them:
- Breast milk and the feeling of love. Most people who overfeed act unconsciously to relive the initial happiness and security of breastfeeding (the famous oral stage according to Freud) or because they feel neglected and need to take care of themselves. mother or to feel better and relieve anxiety and stress because every time we eat, the brain releases endorphins, the body’s natural tranquilizers. Emotional unconscious factors such as extreme stress, sadness, and loneliness are so powerful that they override conscious will, power, and effort to change habits.
- Mental pain. Illness, loss or separation of a loved one, anxiety and depression, all kinds of frustration, rejection, anger and rage, phobias, injustice and abuse, inability to receive feedback and relief, lead to excessive food consumption to fill the void. they feel The feeling of satiety temporarily relieves the pain of emptiness, gives a feeling of calmness.
- Self-destructive tendencies. There are many internal unconscious processes that lead to overeating by acting as self-punishment. Some of them include low self-confidence, pessimism and hopelessness, poor self-image, boredom, guilt and regret, and even negative attention from others.
All these serious problems arise as a result of a person not being able to get satisfaction from anywhere, not being able to understand by resorting to excessive food intake, and entering this circle with negative emotions.
Since every person is different and the problems are not the same for everyone, it is necessary to conduct an internal dialogue with oneself in order to understand and accept one’s own sensitive side. He must take responsibility for himself, reconcile and recognize his weaknesses, so that with self-respect and love he can change the things that make it difficult for him and make him unhappy.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy, as a means of exploring the subconscious, helps a person to discover the aspects of himself that act as subversives and prevents him from changing his lifestyle, allowing him to live in peace with himself, not back and forth, but in balance with peace of mind. punitive war and internal conflict.