Therapist's Guide to Clinical Intervention - Sigmund Freud

c. Protecting your food supply; hiding food
d. Preoccupation with body size
7. Attempts to control eating or weight
a. Doctor's diets
b. Fad diets
c. Diet pills or shots
d. Starving, vomiting, laxative use, diuretics, or manual extraction of stool
e. Diet clubs or fat farms
f. Hypnosis, acupuncture, stomach stapling, or gastric bypass surgery
g. Spending money to control eating or weight
8. Family/friend response
a. To your eating patterns
b. To changes in your appearance
HOW TO STOP USING FOOD AS A COPING MECHANISM
Some people experience difficulty expressing their emotions and resolving associated issues.
Over time, they may identify food as the source of comfort hey are looking for. By this time
it is quite possible that they are experiencing depression. Therefore, their use of food as a
mechanism to cope has (1) created a cycle of conditioned behavior that maintains depression
and (2) become a demonstration of self-medication.
Emotional Internalizes Thinks about Engages in Numbs Feels
distress distress food/eating compulsion out guilty/bad"]
The irony of this cycle is that these individuals often do not even notice the taste or how
much they are eating. The distress and emptiness cannot alleviated with food. The foods
often eating under these condition are sugars and starches. These foods increase serotonin
in the brain and temporarily alleviate emotional distress. Therefore, these two issues must
be confronted: (1) reconditioning, which involves learning new ways to cope and take
care of yourself and (2) understanding the role of your specific brain chemistry. Consider the
following information as resources for developing new coping mechanisms:
1. Increase self-understanding and self-awareness. Keep a self-awareness journal
that records what are you doing and why are you doing it. Keep a food
journal. Write down exactly what you eat, when, and how you felt.
2. Create a habit of asking yourself why you feel like eating. If you are not
hungry, take responsibility for making a better choice. Create a list of
behaviors you can do in an effort to get redirected.
3. Identify what you are feeling. Identify what the feeling is associated with
(thoughts and experiences), and identify your choices for "dealing" with
the feeling.
4. Acknowledge that life is never without issues to deal with. Don't ruminate
about it, don't worry about it, don't procrastinate. Whatever it is, deal with it
(without food) and move on.
How to Stop Using Food as a Coping Mechanism 377