There are written books about what food addiction is.hundreds of articles. This problem is especially relevant for us, women, due to our desire to lose weight and eat a chocolate bar at the same time. Of course, food plays a big role in our lives, and it is absolutely irreplaceable. But where is the line beyond which the love of a chocolate bar or a hamburger turns into an addiction to food? And what to do if you notice the first alarming signs? Is it possible to get rid of food addiction? How can you get rid of it? This article is devoted to these and other aspects of food addiction.

How does dependence on food arise?

Agree, many people are not indifferent to foodpeople, but food addiction is only a small percentage of cases. What is the difference? Food addiction is a condition in which a person eats not because of a physiological need for food, but in order to solve their psychological problems, and the reasons for these problems can be different. These can be attempts to cope with anxiety and worry, find something to do, or get pleasure. As a rule, a person turns to food when he cannot achieve these goals in any other way. The psychology of food addiction is always associated with a feeling of emptiness inside a person. His inner reality is perceived as “empty” or “unfilled”, and bodily signals about this emptiness are read by the body as signals of hunger. And since this is hunger, it can always be dulled with food. As a result, one of the quickest ways to fill the emptiness and get pleasure is food. After eating, a person changes his feelings, bringing comfort to his inner reality. This is how food addiction appears. Psychologists describe a number of reasons that contribute to the emergence of food addiction:

Lack of purpose and meaning in life. There is an attempt to fill the emptiness with eating food, tk. it is much easier than to search for the real purpose and meaning of life.

The situation of loss and disappointment is divorce or, conversely, when a woman marries and the "goal" is "achieved."

Crisis condition. There is a significant threat associated with the achievement of an important goal or placing its importance in doubt. Examples of such situations are the transitional age, the struggle for love and the attention of parents, the threat of dismissal, etc. ...

Food as a means to achieve another goal. For example, a small child wants to eat everything, even if he does not want to - so he gets the love and approval of his parents. Then this kind of behavior is fixed for life.

No matter what the reason isthe basis of the emergence of food addiction, subsequently a new internal reality is formed in a person. It, like a fat layer, protects a person from anxiety, emptiness and psychological discomfort. And it is this that changes the relationship with food, turning it into the meaning of life. This is how the “romance with food” begins. Everything that is connected with food, satiety, taste pleasures, turns out to be important, causes excitement and joy. Everything that is not related to food is thrown out of life, including everything that has an unpleasant content. First of all, with the help of nutrition, a person tries to “digest” negative emotions. In general, everything that indicates problems and helps to solve them is suppressed. The choice is narrowed down to food and is determined only by its desirability and availability. Nutrition becomes a substitute for life and its goals, the main value. The new internal reality is characterized by the following features:

• Calm, lack of anxiety and psychological discomfort.
• Pleasure, search for pleasure, diversity and celebration.
• The illusion of interaction, contact with others, the replacement of relationships with people on the relationship with food.
• Feeling of chosenness, prosperity and elitism due to the traditions and culture of eating food.
• The desire to return to childhood, especially ininfancy, when nutrition is the main occupation and goal. Through him, the child learns the world, satisfies desires, ties up and maintains relationships with people, especially with the mother.
• Distortion of ideas about your body. A person can not perceive signals from his body at all, exclude him from a new inner reality.

Food addiction is common among children from difficult backgrounds.families. As a rule, they have despotic parents who suppress initiative or cold, unloving, inattentive parents. In the family, there is often a ban on expressing emotions, especially negative ones. For example, a child is punished or despised for expressing anger. Relationships with the mother are especially important in the development of eating behavior. By punishing or encouraging the child with feeding, the mother teaches him to manipulate, distorting the process of eating. By imposing a feeding rhythm against the child's wishes, the mother thereby imposes mistrust of himself and the world around him. The desire to force the child to "eat everything" forms a habit of overeating. Eating as a reaction to stress occurs in childhood and becomes a habit that crosses out the search for a more productive method of dealing with stress. As a result, overeating occurs not in cases of severe hunger, but in situations of anxiety, tension and discomfort. Women are more likely than men to have food addiction. This can be explained by several reasons. Firstly, food plays a bigger role in a woman's life than in a man's (we are the ones who often become housewives, buy and cook food). Secondly, due to greater care, women are more submissive and passive in childhood, and, accordingly, are more prone to addiction (food addiction is one of the least condemned in modern society, at least for women). Signs of food addiction:

• constant thoughts about food - what tasty to cook, what would be a bite to eat today;
• impulsive eating behavior - passing by, a person will necessarily eat the candies left on the table;
• problems with self-control in relation to food - a person can not resist and not eat the whole box instead of one or two sweets;
• the desire to comfort yourself with "tasty" in an unpleasant or difficult situation;
• the absence of a favorite food leads a person into a state close to "breaking" - he becomes irritable, he has unpleasant bodily sensations;
• the desire to retire with food;
• lie about how much he ate today - hides too much or too little food;
• feeling guilty after eating;
• reluctance to share your favorite food;

Types of eating disorders

You might think that when we talk about foodaddiction, we are talking mainly about overeating and gluttony. However, these are far from the only variants of distorted relationships with food. Psychologists, and sometimes psychiatrists, describe several more variants of food addiction, when a person feels that eating relieves him of internal discomfort:

Taste addiction is an addiction to taste.specific product When we focus on a pleasant taste in an unpleasant situation, it helps to remove negative experiences from our consciousness. We are talking about “special” products – coffee, tea, sushi and, the most common option, chocolate. The addiction is caused by the fact that chocolate brings great pleasure to the person who eats it, and eating it often turns into a game.

Fasting It is usually a consequencerefusal of food in order to change one's appearance. In some deplorable cases, it reaches the level of a mental disorder - nervous anorexia. Its psychological signs include avoidance of food that, in the girl's opinion, "makes her fat", a distorted perception of one's own body (the girl thinks that she is fat, although this is absolutely not the case), denial of the problem, panic fear of gaining weight. The person becomes irritable, depressed and touchy. A sudden interest in everything related to food appears (cooking classes, reading relevant literature, interest in diets, etc. ...). Changes in behavior and relationships with others occur: the girl is absent from meetings and family dinners, stops communicating with loved ones, strives to play sports outside the home or sits in the bathroom for a long time. Psychologists cite adolescence and youth (unstable self-esteem, susceptibility to outside influence), a poor psychological climate in the family, perfectionism, an inferiority complex, a feeling of self-doubt, and failure to meet the demands of others as risk factors.

Nervous bulimia Girls who suffer from it,They consume huge amounts of food in fits and starts, eating constantly, without stopping even at night. The hunger attack is usually excruciating and is characterized by a sharp increase in appetite, general weakness, and pain in the epigastric region. Girls suffering from bulimia often resort to weight control by inducing vomiting or using laxatives. Nervous bulimia and anorexia are often combined, since they have similar causes and mechanisms of occurrence.

Psychological recommendations

In case of anorexia, bulimia and other eating disordersaddiction that interferes with your normal life, you need to contact a specialist (psychotherapist or psychiatrist) as soon as possible, since this is a serious mental disorder that, if not treated, can lead to serious physical illnesses. It is better not to aggravate the problem and get rid of it with the help of a specialist! If you “hear” only the first alarm bells and are confident in your willpower, then our advice may be a good answer to the question of how to get rid of food addiction on your own:

Honestly, tell yourself what the currenthabit and appearance. Most likely, this is an opportunity to fence off from the outside world, an excuse to do nothing or an attempt to evoke sympathy and sympathy. Determine what you really want at the moment when the famine is coming.

Strive for changes in life, not in appearance. Realize that you have the opportunity to change and perceive yourself as a new person in the process of change.

Determine the worthy goal that you wantto achieve is what you will get when your appearance changes. Use the "positive" key, the words "like", "love", "get" and any other pleasant and attractive images. Eliminate words like "lose weight", "get rid" and "get better".

Relive the goal. Imagine yourself with a new appearance in all its details: your body, face, self-awareness, new clothes. Feel the positive emotions associated with the new appearance: joy, comfort, pleasure. Periodically immerse yourself in this pleasant state and imagine yourself like that.

Determine the relationship with people - do not eat when you want love and communication, for status or out of courtesy. Communicate instead of eating.

Train the right eating habits andbehavior. Eat only in cases of true hunger (nonphysical hunger is greedy, satisfied not just with food, but with something sweet or fat). In the case of negative emotions, try to express emotion, and not "seize" it. Finish the meal after the disappearance of hunger.

Work with your negative thoughts and attitudes. Find them and make a list of "for" them in their favor and a list of "against" them. Read the lists and make a rational decision.

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