psychological eating habits

psychological eating habits are more than just eating disorders. Because they are complex mental health conditions that often require the intervention of psychological experts to treat and control them. There is a common misconception that these eating disorders are a matter of personal choices, but in fact, they are considered serious disorders that severely affect the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions of sufferers

Psychogenic eating habits

What are psychological eating disorders?

Psychogenic eating habits are behavioral conditions characterized by severe and persistent disturbance in eating behaviors and associated negative thoughts and emotions and lead to the development of unhealthy eating habits that begin with the obsession with food or excessive interest in body weight or shape, and in severe cases can cause serious health consequences that may lead to Left untreated, these disorders are described and identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, the world's premier psychiatric reference.

People with psychogenic eating habits experience a variety of symptoms, most of which include:

• stop eating.

• Excessive overeating.

• Purging behaviors such as forced vomiting.

• Excessive exercise.

Common causes of psychogenic eating Habits and risk factors

Psychogenic eating habits can affect people of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and races. Psychogenic eating disorders frequently appear during the teenage or young years, but they may also develop during childhood or later in life. Experts believe that psychogenic eating disorders may be caused by a variety of factors:

Genetic factors:

Studies of twins provide plenty of evidence that eating disorders may be genetic, and this type of research has generally shown that if one twin has a psychogenic eating disorder, the other twin has a 50% chance of developing the same disorder as well. Researchers have also found that psychogenic eating disorders may occur as a result of a complex interaction between genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors. Researchers today are using the latest technology and science to better understand eating disorders. In addition, there are factors linked to human genes being studied so far, and psychogenic eating disorders have also been found to run in some families, and researchers are constantly working to identify differences in DNA associated with an increased risk of developing eating disorders.

Character traits and features:

Several personality traits and characteristics are associated with an increased risk of developing psychogenic eating disorders.

Cultural and Social Preferences of Thinness:

Exposure to media that promote such ideals, however, ideals of culturally acceptable thinness are very present in many regions of the world, although some researchers assert that the impact of these preferences is low compared to other factors.

Brain biological differences:

Recent studies have suggested that these differences may play a role in the development of psychogenic eating habits as well, particularly those related to levels of the hormones serotonin and dopamine, however, more studies are needed before strong conclusions can be drawn, and brain imaging studies have also provided a better understanding of psychogenic eating disorders. Origin. For example, researchers have found differences in brain activity patterns in women with psychogenic eating disorders compared to normal women. This type of research can help guide the development of new methods of diagnosing and treating eating disorders

The most common types of psychogenic eating habits

The following six types represent the most common psychogenic eating disorders:

• Anorexia nervosa.

• Nervous bulimia.

• Overeating disorder.

• pica disease.

• rumination disorder;

• Eating Restriction Disorders.

In addition, there are some rare forms of psychogenic eating habits.

Anorexia nervosa:

The most well-known and common disorder is a condition in which a person avoids food, severely restricts food intake, or only eats very small amounts of certain foods They avoid eating certain types of food and try to cut back on calories. Anorexia nervosa generally develops during adolescence and tends to affect women more than men. Common symptoms of anorexia nervosa include:

• Significantly less weight compared to people of the same age and height.

• Extremely restricted eating patterns.

• Intense fear of gaining weight or continuing behaviors to avoid gaining weight despite being underweight.

• The relentless pursuit of thinness and the unwillingness to maintain a healthy weight.

• A significant influence of body weight or perceived body shape on self-esteem.

• Distorted body image, including denial of being seriously underweight.

They often have OCD symptoms, for example, many people with anorexia are often preoccupied with persistent thoughts about food, and some may collect recipes or store food anxiously. These individuals may also have difficulty eating in public and display a strong desire to control their environment, which limits their ability to be spontaneous.

Anorexia is categorized into two subtypes: the restrictive type and the binge eating type with purging behaviors. Individuals with the restricted type lose weight only through dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise. Those with binge eating and purging may overeat or eat too little, but either way, after eating purging is done using activities such as forced vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, or exercising excessively. Anorexia can be harmful to the body. Over time, affected individuals may experience osteoporosis, infertility, and brittle hair and nails. In severe cases, anorexia can lead to failure of the heart, brain, or many organs.

Anorexia nervosa can be fatal, with a very high mortality rate compared to other mental disorders. People with anorexia are at risk of dying from medical complications associated with starvation, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for people with anorexia nervosa.

bulimia nervosa:

Bulimia nervosa is another very common eating disorder. Similar to bulimia nervosa, bulimia tends to develop during adolescence and early adulthood and appears to be less common in men than in women. People with bulimia often eat unusually large amounts of food in a set amount of time, and each binge eating episode usually lasts until the person is painfully full. During binges, a person usually feels that they cannot stop eating or control how much they eat.
Episodes of binge eating can occur with any type of food, but they most commonly occur with foods that the individual would normally avoid. Individuals with bulimia then attempt to purge to compensate for the calories consumed and relieve bowel pain. Common cleansing behaviors include forced vomiting, fasting, laxatives, and diuretics. Urine, enemas, and excessive exercise.
Symptoms may appear very similar to those of binge eating or subtypes of anorexia nervosa. However, people with bulimia usually maintain a relatively normal weight rather than become underweight.

Common symptoms of bulimia nervosa include:

• Frequent episodes of binge eating with a feeling of being out of control.

• Repeated bouts of inappropriate purging behaviors to prevent weight gain.

• Self-esteem is excessively influenced by body shape and weight.

• Fear of gaining weight despite the normal weight.

Side effects of bulimia may include sore throat, swollen salivary glands, tooth enamel erosion, tooth decay, acid reflux, intestinal irritation, severe dehydration, and hormonal disturbances. In severe cases, bulimia can lead to an imbalance in the levels of electrolytes in the blood such as sodium, potassium, and calcium, which can cause neurological and cardiac disorders.

Binge eating habits:

It is a condition in which people lose control over their eating and have frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. As a result, people with binge eating disorders are often overweight or obese. Binge eating habits are thought to be a very common psychogenic eating disorder, usually beginning during adolescence and early adulthood, although it can develop later.

Common symptoms of binge eating disorder include:

• Eating large amounts of food quickly, secretly, and even annoyingly full, despite not feeling hungry.

• Feeling of losing control during binge eating episodes.

• Feelings of distress, such as shame, disgust or guilt, at the thought of binge eating behavior.

• Not using purging behaviors, such as calorie restriction, vomiting, excessive exercise, or using a laxative or diuretic to compensate for the binge.

People with binge eating disorders are often overweight or obese. This may increase their risk of medical complications associated with being overweight, such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Pica disorder:

Pica is another eating habit that involves eating things that are not actually food. People with pica crave non-food items, such as snow, dirt, soil, chalk, soap, paper, hair, cloth, wool, pebbles, laundry detergent, or cornstarch. Pica can occur in adults, as well as children and adolescents. However, this disorder is frequently observed in children, pregnant women, and individuals with mental disabilities. Individuals with pica may be at increased risk of poisoning, infections, intestinal injuries, and nutritional deficiencies, and depending on the substances ingested, some cases can be fatal. To be diagnosed with pica, eating non-food items must not be a normal part of a person's culture or religion, and in addition, it must not be considered a socially acceptable practice by a person's peers.

Rumination habit:

Rumination disorder is another newly identified psychogenic eating disorder, which describes a condition in which a person vomits food that has previously been chewed and swallowed, then re-chews it, and then either re-swallows or spits it out. This rumination usually occurs within the first 30 minutes after a meal. For medical conditions such as reflux, it is voluntary. This disorder can develop during infancy, childhood, or adulthood. In infants, it tends to develop between 3-12 months and often goes away on its own. Children and adults with this condition usually need treatment to resolve it. If infant rumination disorder is not resolved it can lead to weight loss and severe malnutrition that can be fatal.

Adults with this disorder may limit the amount of food they eat, especially in public places. This may lead them to lose weight and become underweight.

Avoidant/restrictive food intake habits:

Restrictive Eating Disorder (ARFID) is a new name for an old disorder that was known as "Infant and Early Childhood Feeding Disorder", a diagnosis that was previously reserved for children under the age of seven, although the specific eating disorder generally occurs during infancy or early childhood. , it can persist into adulthood, moreover, it is equally common in men and women.
Individuals with this disorder have an eating disorder either due to a lack of interest in eating or an aversion to certain smells, tastes, colors, textures, or temperatures.

Common symptoms of ARFID include:

• Avoiding or restricting food intake that prevents a person from eating adequate calories or nutrients.

• Eating habits that interfere with normal social functions, such as eating with others.

• Weight loss or poor growth for age and height.

• Nutrient deficiencies or dependence on supplements or tube feeding.

It's important to note that avoidant/specific eating disorder goes beyond normal behaviors, such as picky eating in young children or eating less food in older adults. Furthermore, it does not include avoiding or restricting foods due to lack of availability or religious or cultural practices.

Other psychogenic eating habits

In addition to the six eating habits listed above, there are also less known or less common psychogenic eating habits. These generally fall into one of three categories:

Purging habit:

Individuals with a cleansing disorder often use purge behaviors such as vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, or excessive exercise to control their weight or shape.

Night eating syndrome:

People with this syndrome often eat excessively, often after waking up.

Other Specified Feeding or Eating habits (OSFED):

Although not found in the DSM-5, this includes any other conditions that have symptoms similar to those of psychogenic eating disorders but do not fit into any of the above categories.

One disorder that may currently fall under OSFED is orthopedic disorder, and although it is increasingly mentioned in the media and scientific studies, it is not recognized as a separate eating disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Individuals with orthopedic disorder tend to obsessively focus on healthy eating, to the extent that it disrupts their daily lives, for example, the affected person may exclude entire food groups out of fear that they are unhealthy, and this can lead to malnutrition, severe weight loss, difficulty Eating out, emotional distress. Osteopathic individuals rarely focus on losing weight, instead, their self-esteem, identity, or satisfaction depends on how well they comply with their self-imposed diet rules.

child psychological eating habits

Temperamentally challenging kids need extra attention from their parents to help them form healthy eating habits. These youngsters are more prone to form a negative attachment to eating.

However, temperance encompasses much more than just rage. The child's basic method of interacting with his surroundings and himself is reflected in his temperament. It can be seen as an early indicator of what adults refer to as personality.

Mood includes how a child thinks, behaves, and acts across situations and over time. For example, does the child get frustrated easily and find it difficult to regulate his emotions, or is he able to regulate his emotions, or complete a task even when he is tired? Is the child extroverted, curious, exploratory, or a little anxious in new situations and with new people?

Parents' influence on eating habits

According to a recent study, the child's personal traits also affect how they establish their eating habits. In the Early Secure Study (TESS) project researchers looked at the subject.

The researchers surveyed parents about their children's eating habits and temperament when the 800 or so kids were 4, 6, 8, and 10 years old. They also looked at whether temperament could predict how eating habits progressed.

Our findings show that children who we often think of as moody (for example, getting frustrated quickly, or being more prone to mood swings than others), are especially prone to developing eating habits that can lead to unhealthy weight gain and difficulties in Eat and drinking. Eating food. . They resort to emotional eating more over time, and the more likely they are to eat because food is available, although they may be satiating, and they become more selective in eating over time. Children with this temperament also showed more emotion under the influence of food later — that is, they were more likely to eat less when they were sad, anxious, afraid, or angry.

It is important to establish good eating habits during childhood because we often bring these habits with us into our teens and adulthood. Good eating habits are important for having a good relationship with food and eating and avoiding being overweight.

Eating habits are not just about what we eat, but also about how we relate to food and eating.

A challenge for parents and children about bad eating habits

Given that children with temperamental traits are more likely to acquire bad eating habits, it is crucial for their parents to focus especially on promoting healthy eating.

This can be particularly difficult for parents of kids who experience more extreme mood swings than typical kids. Compared to parents of children who don't get annoyed or angry readily, parents of temperamental kids deal with negative emotions more frequently. It's not surprising that parents with temperamental kids use less-than-ideal tactics more frequently.

In a recent study, we have shown that parents are more inclined to console their emotionally fragile children with food. As time goes on, the youngster becomes more prone to emotional eating as she learns that eating makes her feel better when she is angry, unhappy, or experiencing other negative emotions.

Even if we parents aren't perfect and don't need to be, we might want to be a little more conscious of how to promote children's healthy eating habits and how to best satisfy their emotional needs.

psychological aspects and eating habits during covid 19 home confinement

Eating behavior is a complex construct that can be modified by external factors. Due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), several restrictive measures have been implemented with the aim of reducing the impact of this disease. As a result, lifestyles are disrupted, which may affect eating behaviors. The aim of this systematic review of longitudinal studies was to assess changes in eating behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic by establishing a comparison of eating behaviors before and after the outbreak. This study followed PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO: CRD42020203246), while to assess the quality of the studies, the Newcastle Ottawa Quality Rating Scale (NOS) was applied. Of a pool of 826 studies, 23 were included in this systematic review. The main findings provided information about a shift toward modified eating behaviors, characterized by an increased frequency of snacking and a preference for sweets and ultra-processed foods rather than fresh fruits, vegetables, and foods. In addition, an increase in alcohol consumption has been found in different countries. Thus, adherence to healthy diets decreased. These findings are relevant to future policies and strategies for assessing nutrition in situations of concern such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

psychological reasons for eating fast

Below are 5 reasons why you are eating too fast and an opportunity at the end to learn to slow down, relish and digest and assimilate your nutrients more effectively.

The person you eat with eats quickly

As a social species, we routinely and subconsciously mirror the behaviors of others we spend time with.  We do this with food behavior too. In fact, we have a mirror neuron, which mimics what people we spend time with doing, including eating. So, if you’re out with someone and they are snarfing down their food at a fast clip, it’s, in fact, very hard for you to change the cadence of that energy and slow down in spite of it., some times we show how just vulnerable we are to matching the pace of our dining partners. 

You’re starving

Many clients and friends I have been known to skip meals out of busyness, or because they feel that by doing so they are saving up their calories for later in the day.  The problem is that when we get to the left side of this hunger chart, it often can happen fast and furiously. It’s extremely hard to slow down and make nutrient-dense food decisions when we’re starving and just need to fill up fast and it’s also very hard to eat slowly in a circumstance like this.  Why? Because our bodies start to believe that it’s in stress response and needs to act quickly to protect you

You’re in a stress response

Speaking of being in a stress response, by not eating all day, we can also eat fast when our bodies are in a low level or high-stress response in general.  Remember, our bodies exhibit symptoms of the sympathetic stress response to any real OR perceived threat. So, if there is something troubling you at work or in a relationship or if you’ve just been in traffic for 3 hours or had an argument with someone, you are likely to eat much more quickly than if you’re in a relaxation response.  Recognizing the symptoms of the stress response is the first step to calming yourself, 

You have conflicted feelings about the food you’re eating

Another reason we might eat fast is when we have a moral conflict about what we’re eating.  If we’ve been told our whole lives that certain foods are good and some foods are junk or will make you sick then what does it say about us when we consciously choose to eat those maligned foods?  It creates cognitive dissonance in us and one way to remedy this is to eat it super fast, standing up, and alone so no one can witness it. Then maybe, just maybe it didn’t even really happen at all.  

We also do this when we’ve created arbitrary food rules for ourselves that we break.  After all, if we’ve sworn off sugar and carbs and yet find ourselves drawn to it and even eating it, that’s pretty hard for our psyches to handle, so we rid ourselves of the evidence quickly to move on and start to try to feel better,.I write  about  healthy food here

It has become a habit

Learning to eat slowly and wisely takes as much unlearning as it does learning. This is because fast food and fast food culture have become the cultural norm. We have learned that output is everything and in order to achieve more, do more, produce more, and succeed more is to deprive ourselves of those annoying things that keep us healthy like the quality and quantity of sleep, slowly eating nutrient-rich and enjoyable foods. , When our basic human needs and processes are delayed or greatly delayed, you know that there is a problem with balance and boundaries and that without intervention we can create, get, more than the stress response in our bodies. It also becomes a habit to do these things which makes changing them more difficult. I had one client take on the task of having dinner one night without any distractions including TV, reading, driving, or even talking. I was shocked at how difficult it was to do so. This is because we've learned that multitasking is a good thing and eating is just the thing to do before going back to whatever we were doing that was more important. I think this needs to change.

Support yourself with healthy lifestyle habits

 

When you’re physically strong, relaxed, and well rested, you’re better able to handle the curveballs that life inevitably throws your way. But when you’re already exhausted and overwhelmed, any little hiccup has the potential to send you off the rails and straight toward the refrigerator. Exercise, sleep, and other healthy lifestyle habits will help you get through difficult times without psychological eating habits