Your mood can influence what you eat and how much you consume. Recent studies point strongly to a definite correlation between depression and overeating.
If you notice a change in your eating habits and have to ask why am I always hungry now? The answer could be that your diet is being impacted by depression.
Anxiety and depression impact millions of people each year and a low mood can make you more prone to binge eating and consuming a higher level of sugary and high-fat foods.
Here is what we know about the connection between depression and overeating.
A vicious cycle
If you are feeling stressed and your diet is packed with high-fat items in order to try and boost your mood and relieve tension, the problem is that it creates a vicious cycle where consuming low-nutrient and high-fat food makes you more susceptible to depression.
In a nutshell, if you are overeating and putting on weight that may trigger depressive symptoms. When you have depression you may resort to overeating as a coping mechanism. Both scenarios have the capacity to create the same end result.
Spotting the signs of depressive overeating
You may not always be aware that you are suffering from depression. That might cause you to wonder why you are overeating but never quite feeling satisfied or full despite this.
When you are resting primarily to provide emotional relief you are consuming food in a very different way and for very different reasons than eating because you are hungry.
Some classic symptoms of depressive overeating include the following –
You feel unable to resist the temptation to eat more and don’t feel able to stop yourself even when you think you have eaten too much.
You eat large quantities of food with very little time in between these feeding bouts.
You don’t feel any emotional reward when eating. A sense of apathy and emotional distance is a common symptom of depressive overeating.
How can you break the cycle?
Once you realize that your eating habits and the volume of food you are consuming has become a problem the challenge is how to break the cycle and take back control.
The good news is that the combination of depression and overeating can be tackled simultaneously.
The first step in your recovery plan often involves going for therapy. This is a useful tool in helping to identify the root cause of your depression and why you are overeating.
A popular option involves using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This has been proven to be an effective therapy for treating both depression and eating disorders. CBT sessions are designed to discover specific triggers that lead you to overeating and feeling depressed.
The fundamental aim of this therapy is to focus on finding methods that allow you to get your overeating habits under control. This also has a positive impact on helping you manage symptoms of depression at the same time.
From what studies have shown, there is little doubt that there is a connection between overeating and depression. Once you are able to recognize the signs and get the treatment help available, there is a way to take back control of both issues.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
