Anxiety and eating

[Jemina]

I find that when I'm more anxious I tend to want to snack more than when I'm not so anxious. I don't tend to eat "proper" meals so much and tend to focus more on having lots of little snacks so that I've got something to focus on. If I do eat a bigger meal I don't tend to eat much of it and end up just picking at it because I'm too anxious and my stomach can be churning and it makes me not want to eat so much in one go. I find that I tend to want to eat more junk food when I'm more anxious too.


Does anxiety alter what you eat, or how much?

 

[joshposh]

When I get anxiety attacks, I tend to worry and my appetite goes directly to zero. I can't put down any food as all I can think of is what is weighing on my mind. Feels like the world is on your shoulders and no one understands you. I do a lot of pacing and walking around as my movement is like a train of thought. The more I move around the more I can think. So I am not eating and more or less exercising to the point where my body needs fuel. Eventually hours later I calm down and try to put things together and finally eat something. The bigger the problem, the longer I would go without eating. Sometimes I go the whole day and only get a single meal in.

 

[redpanda]

Anxiety makes me completely lose my appetite. There have been times where the ONLY thing that brings my appetite back is marijuana. Even now, I never have a full three meals. I have a very small lunch and then dinner in the evening. My stomach can't handle food when I first wake up so I never have breakfast. I'm also not much of a snack person but I think that's partially because I don't tend to buy snacks to begin with. Unfortunately, all of this means that I have trouble keeping weight on. People will say that I'm lucky but being underweight comes with a different host of issues.

 

[John Snort]

For some people they cope with anxiety by eating more because it might make you feel better. At least for a while it might. For others anxiety will cause them digestive problems. There are some for example who say they get diarrhea from anxiety and can't or won't eat anything when they are feeling anxious. That said, eating is always the last thing on my mind when I am feeling anxious. When I'm feeling anxious I do a lot of doodling, drawing cartoons — anything to keep my mind off the things that are making me anxious.

 

[artyarson]

Oh, I thought this topic is about being afraid in public places. Some people can't just do that, as they feel like they are being watched. I had a friend like that. He struggled with going out for that reason.


Well, I'd say when I have a low mood... I don't really want to eat much. Maybe that's the way our body works.

 

[Panic57]

When I'm in a group setting, I get so anxious that I snack on food as an excuse not to talk to a people. When I'm buy myself I find that I like eating chips and salty things but when I'm depressed I like eating sweets and chocolate. It gets really bad sometimes because I'll just eat junk food instead of real food. But lately, I've found that I really like cooking when I'm depressed because I can just stand alone in front of stove and not focus on my problems. It's really soothing and helps when I'm depressed but I'm to antsy to do it when I'm anxious, I just burn the food.

 

[kgord]

It depends, sometimes over eating can be a side effect of anxiety and depression. Sometimes you don't get the nuturing you need because you are afraid to interact with people. That can result in feeling anxious, depressed and over eating to compensate for the emptiness within. I think using food as a substitute for relationships with people is something that many people do. It can be a way to soothe yourself.

 

[djordjem87]

Since I suffer from this and many other disorders I can vouch for the connection. Sometimes helps me when I eat and usually things I really like. Bananas, peanuts, peaches, walnuts, almonds. I also love watermelons and of course my favourite ice cream and dark chocolate. I am a vegetarian so it is easier for me from that point of view but it is frustrating and everybody who has this knows how bad it can be. I have had that misfortune that I have no support from my family whatsoever and that makes the things harder. Fridge is sometimes my best companion and it helped more than once with anxiety. I haven't read the post above and I have no idea how you connect food and anxiety. For me it is a problem solver or at least it makes it easier.

 

[rz3300]

I am not really sure what is going on inside my head when I am eating, because sometimes I can eat in front of others with no problem and then other times I just want to eat alone, and will put off eating in order to do so. If there is food for everyone, though, I am fine eating like a slob in front of anyone, but if I have to go out of my way to eat, and if I am the only one eating, then I get really uncomfortable. I just never like being the center of attention, and I guess when you are in a room and one person has food, everyone else is usually looking at the food wishing they were eating. It is just another weird thing that I have to deal with, though, and I would like to think that I am getting better, but who knows.

 

[wayz12]

I tend to eat unhealthily when I'm anxious. Normally, I try to eat healthy food because I'm trying to lose weight. However, I noticed that when I get anxious, or when I feel nervous, my tendency is to grab something to eat, usually junk food. I think it makes me feel better.


I cannot forget a time when my husband and I had a major argument. While crying and upset, I ran into the kitchen, pulled out a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter, and just started stuffing myself with bread heavily smeared with thick globs of peanut butter. It wasn't until I've eaten several pieces that it dawned on me how crazy my behavior is.


I have never done something as dramatic as that since, and hopefully, I won't in the future. I guess knowing what triggers it can help me get a handle on it.

 

[MellowCat]

Anxiety and depression are at the heart of my eating disorder. I have struggled with binge eating disorder on and off since since about aged 8, I think, though I really was not completely aware of what was going on or why until I was probably 18-20.


Currently, I am in recovery, and I don't experience as many binge episodes as I used to. However, I do still have off days, often when I am hormonal, worried, or even bored.


It can be very frustrating...

 

[thecorinthian]

I have a different reaction when it comes to eating and anxiety. When I'm anxious I stop eating altogether but when I'm happy and I get really happy sometimes I eat a lot. I guess my appetite depends on my mood. When I'm depressed I rarely eat and just stay in bed that's why my family knows something's wrong when I stop eating.

 

[aimeepoo]

I'm an emotional eater. I will eat when I'm upset and feel like my hunger can not be satisfied. It truly is a disorder and it is called binge eating disorder. I have tried distractions to replace the binge eating. Coloring, crocheting, or reading books seem to help.

 

[amy88]

I go one of two ways when I am stressed - I either snack non stop or I forget to eat. There's no real rhyme or reason to which way it goes, but yes - anxiety definitely plays into my eating habits without a doubt.

 

[Sue]

I have no desire to eat when I start feeling anxious. The feeling upsets my stomach and the last thing I want to do is to add food and make it worse. My anxiety has been so bad at times that it has been me physically ill so that last thing i want to do is eat and add to the problem. Once the anxious feeling passes it takes quite sometime for my stomach to settle down enough to eat something.

 

[Laneorexorcist]

It definitely does, when I am stressed or anxious just as you, I tend to eat little snacks just like candies or just junk food in general because I mostly don't really have time to look for proper food to eat or I also cannot really grab a fruit. I think that when I'm on those moods I feel the need to have something in my mouth, to kind of liberating thetension, I guess. I think that having something on my hands to playwith, just like a ball or a little squishy but soundless toy can help with this anxiety.

 

[NormaD]

I find that whenever I'm anxious or stressed I also go one of two ways. Sometimes I find myself dwoning gallons of ice cream and tons of potato chips and other times I go days without eating. The latter especially used to happen back when I used to smoke cigarettes. I could go days without eating and I wouldn't even think about food until my body felt faint from hunger. I don't know what triggers which reaction.

 

[janemariesayed]

I find that when I'm more anxious I tend to want to snack more than when I'm not so anxious. I don't tend to eat "proper" meals so much and tend to focus more on having lots of little snacks so that I've got something to focus on. If I do eat a bigger meal I don't tend to eat much of it and end up just picking at it because I'm too anxious and my stomach can be churning and it makes me not want to eat so much in one go. I find that I tend to want to eat more junk food when I'm more anxious too.


Does anxiety alter what you eat, or how much?

Anxiety makes me want to eat carbohydrates. Pure comfort food. Anything that is flour based like cakes and pastries or bread. Depression makes me feel like that too. I have to be really careful and it is a struggle to monitor what I eat so I don't end up putting on loads of weight. I buy fruit but it seems to just sit in the bowl and look pretty till it goes off and I have to throw it away.

 

[pwarbi]

So called comfort eating is quite common I think in a lot of people. I know many people that turn to food when they are feeling stressed or anxious but having said that, I also know a lot of people that can go off food altogether. I'm more like the latter and a few years ago when I was going through a bad time, the last thing I wanted to do was eat, and I ended up losing nearly 2 stone in a matter of a couple of weeks.

People even commented that I had begun to look ill, and that was through lack of appetite and just worry. Eating too much or not eating at all are both dangerous of course, and even when we are stressed then we still have to try and make sure that we take care of ourselves, but in a lot of cases that's easier said than done.