The desire to replace psychologically experienced or felt deficiencies with food is called emotional hunger. One of the symptoms of this disease is that the person has a constant desire to eat and is in moods such as unhappiness, worthlessness and tension with this desire. Diet has an important place in a person's life. Taking the required amount of food into the body and ensuring the balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat in the food taken is also an important issue. The energy given to the body by these nutrients has a high impact on people's performance during the day.
What is Emotional Hunger?
Emotional hunger; sadness, depressive mood, stress, emotionality in school and work life, etc. Depending on the psychological states we find ourselves in, we see ourselves in a constant desire to eat. In general, it occurs when we experience emotions such as stress, anxiety, excitement and unhappiness. People often look for the solution to their problems in eating. However, this method is not healthy as there is no end to eating. For this reason, individuals experience feelings of regret after eating. The feeling of regret after eating is one of the most important symptoms of emotional hunger. We can list some of these symptoms as follows;
- If you are eating while people around you are eating, even if you are not hungry.
- If you eat something so that your mouth is not empty.
- If you feel very sad when you want to eat but cannot.
- You feel the need for a snack when you are on the phone or sitting in front of the TV.
- You cannot stop eating at night.
It is observed that individuals with emotional starvation are generally more likely to eat something (junk food, sweets, etc.) at night. Another symptom is that people who experience emotional hunger do not have a feeling of fullness. If people notice these symptoms in themselves, they are likely to suffer from emotional hunger.
What are the Symptoms and Causes of Emotional Hunger?
There are multiple causes of emotional starvation. The most important reason is the psychological problems that people experience. People may experience bad feelings for various reasons in their lives. These feelings are emotions such as unhappiness, anxiety and stress. People try different ways to get rid of these feelings or to reduce the intensity of these feelings. Emotional starvation is one of these ways.
Individuals with emotional starvation push themselves to eat in order to overcome the situation they are in. The foods taken into the body are mostly glucose and carbohydrate-containing foods. When we consume glucose-containing foods, the body immediately starts to secrete insulin against harmful substances that may come from external stimuli in our brain. People with emotional starvation tend to turn to the outside world instead of the negativity or problematic situations they are in, thus distancing themselves from these problems. But this distancing is only a deception, the solution to these negativities is not here.
What are the Types of Emotional Hunger?
Emotional hunger is divided into 2 types: physical hunger and emotional hunger. If these two types are confused, this disease cannot be fully diagnosed. The most important detail that differentiates physical and emotional hunger is whether or not the feeling of hunger can be postponed. The differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger are as follows;
Physical Hunger
- Physical hunger occurs slowly and can be delayed.
- In physical hunger, individuals may feel unhappy, angry or irritable because of hunger. However, this will be alleviated after taking food into the body.
- In physical hunger, individuals stop eating even though they are full. The reason for eating is not to suppress the feeling. The reason for eating is to make life more livable.
- After physical hunger, people do not regret the food they have eaten.
Emotional Hunger
- Emotional hunger occurs suddenly and cannot be postponed. Individuals with emotional hunger suddenly feel the urge to eat.
- In emotional hunger; individuals push themselves to eat when they are sad, tense, stressed in order to suppress these feelings.
- After eating, the feeling of satiety that occurs in physical hunger cannot be felt in emotional hunger. Even though people with emotional hunger do not physically need food, they still tend to eat in order to get rid of the situation they are in.
- In emotional hunger, people experience a sense of regret because they know that this situation is caused by a psychological disorder and that is why they eat.
Once you understand the difference betweenphysical and emotional hunger , you can identify the type of food cravings. This helps to diagnose the illness. People should consult a specialist by researching the outpatient clinics that should be applied for emotional or physical hunger.