# Do you eat to help cope with emotional issues? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271 "2010-03-12T17:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/21 "2010-03-12T20:52:14Z")
Nope, never have eaten for emotional reasons. I like to eat - it’s probably my favorite thing in the world to do, and I spend a stupid amount of time thinking about eating, cooking, reading cookbooks, and all things food-related, but I’ve never been one to come home after a miserable day and break out the cookies. The wine, yes. The cookies, no. I’m not sure that’s any healthier, though. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/22 "2010-03-12T20:53:21Z")
I eat because of hunger, or boredom, or to become the world’s fattest man. But not revenge. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/23 "2010-03-12T20:57:25Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Can you stop being an ass for five seconds? ? > [@](#): > > Yes, I see that some people do this (and feel free to substitute eating food with looking at pretty jewelry or making paper dolls), and I’m saying I can’t relate. I’m not saying “I don’t understand why people eat if they’re not hungry.” Wonderful, really. Go take a shit or something. My first post in this thread was to **Cheesic** , not to you. I could care less what you can’t you relate to. My point to **Cheesic** was that the concept of using food as a pick me up is not rocket science. It’s very weird that you would take that personally. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/24 "2010-03-12T20:59:00Z")
Yes. I didn’t realize I was an emotional eater for a long time, until I started paying attention. The relationship between my stress levels and how I chose to eat was pretty blatant. As far as food not erasing negative feelings – uh, yeah, it can. [It most definitely can.](http://agedcareact.wordpress.com/2007/10/02/chocolate-a-sweet-fix-for-depression/) **salinqmind** , would that I had your problem! I would be one skinny minnie. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/25 "2010-03-12T21:12:27Z")
I put “sometimes”, because I’m usually able to cope in other ways, particularly the last couple of years. That said, the connection is absolutely there for me: if I’ve had a really bad day, nothing is going to make me happier (over the short term) than a pound of pasta and a couple glasses of whiskey. I can intellectually realize that that path leads to a lot less happiness over the longer term, so I can usually manage to avoid it and do some of the stuff I mentioned in the other thread instead, but that is absolutely the immediate response that my body physically and emotionally wants when it’s under an unusual level of stress. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/26 "2010-03-12T21:14:13Z")
I marked sometimes. For me, it’s not about eating when I’m not hungry, or eating the whole pie/ham/carton of ice cream. But it absolutely affects my choices of what to eat. Day is fine? Eat a salad. Or one of those microwavable meals with 300 calories or less. Day is minorly crappy–eat the Chicken Ceaser salad–only don’t eat the lettuce, just the dressing and the chicken and the cheese. Or get a cookie after I eat my meal at Panera’s --and the meal is more likely to include the mac & cheese or half a sandwhich which is dripping with melted cheese and maybe bacon. I’m also more likely to get nibbly when stressed or bored. Dessert as celebration is also a possibility. Though sometimes it’s just habit. But for the most part, I eat too much regardless of mood. But bad moods can make me more inclined to indulge a little, foodwise. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/27 "2010-03-12T21:16:11Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Wonderful, really. Go take a shit or something. > > My first post in this thread was to **Cheesic** , not to you. I could care less what you can’t you relate to. So you can’t stop being an ass for five minutes. > [@](#): > > My point to **Cheesic** was that the concept of using food as a pick me up is not rocket science. It’s very weird that you would take that personally. Simmer down, for Jameson’s sake. Look, I’m not taking anything personally, and honestly don’t get why you’re being so hostile. I am not\*\* Chessic Sense\*\*, but I would guess he doesn’t get why food helps people cope with their emotions for the same reason I don’t. Food satisfies hunger, yes, and is also enjoyable simply for its taste, so reasons why people would consume food other than hungry seem simple and obvious enough. But how does that help you cope with your feelings? I like playing Scrabble, but that’s never helped me shake the blues. I’ll sometimes hydrate with apple juice instead of water because apple juice is sweet, and water isn’t, but it doesn’t assist me in any way to cope with unpleasant emotions. It’s food. I like eating it, but it’s not going to put me in a better mood. To suggest that Chessic, or anyone else who doesn’t get it, is somehow obtuse because it’s “not rocket science” seems bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/28 "2010-03-12T21:24:39Z")
No one has said that they are now happy and fulfilled (400-lb) individuals once they discovered food. Of course it doesn’t solve your issues, and if someone offered the advice of “Just eat a tub of ice cream” to someone who posted about a real problem I hope it would be shot down as quickly as the advice to smoke a pack of cigarettes or drink a bottle of wine. It provides at most a quick lift that is addictive. The biochemistry behind that is pretty clear. Are you curious about why people do irrational and self-destructive things? Who knows, but it’s not exactly news that they do. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/29 "2010-03-12T21:35:38Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Like some said in the other thread, I have no appetite when I’m hungry. When I broke up with the first boy who tricked me into falling love with him, I had to force myself to eat after 48 hours of not doing so, because I knew I was supposed to eat. This. I think I have always been just a few more crises away from a full-blown eating disorder. But when I’m in emotional distress, or I’m stressed… I am simply not interested in eating. I will turn to comfort foods because foods I dearly love are the only things I can force myself to choke down when I’m in that state, and as MOL said above… I’ll eat because I realize I need to, not because I’m hungry or want to. When I’m in freak out mode. In normal mode, my eating habits normalize as well. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/30 "2010-03-12T21:46:46Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Look, I’m not taking anything personally,… Of course you are, or you wouldn’t be accusing me of being hostile towards you when I’m not. Or keep on repeating yourself. Because honest to God, we get it already, really we do. You can’t relate to the whole food as a happy drug thing. Jesus, okay. It flies in the face of your personal experiences or something. We understand. You don’t have to keep explaining yourself over and over again. It’s okay. Nobody is calling you obtuse. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/31 "2010-03-12T21:52:10Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Of course you are, or you wouldn’t be accusing me of being hostile towards you when I’m not. > > Or keep on repeating yourself. Because honest to God, we get it already, really we do. You can’t relate to the whole food as a happy drug thing. Jesus, okay. It flies in the face of your personal experiences or something. We understand. You don’t have to keep explaining yourself over and over again. It’s okay. Nobody is calling you obtuse. That’s not what… never mind. I’m not going to get into a crazy-off with you, beause I’m pretty sure you’d win. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/32 "2010-03-12T21:53:16Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Like some said in the other thread, I have no appetite when I’m hungry. When I broke up with the first boy who tricked me into falling love with him, I had to force myself to eat after 48 hours of not doing so, because I knew I was supposed to eat. Same here. When I’m stressed, I can’t eat. Maybe I should have put “Other” since i do the opposite of eating when I’m upset (I put “No”). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/33 "2010-03-12T21:56:08Z")
Guy here. I don’t often eat extra because I’m stressed, but occasionally I do. I’ll go through an entire large bag of tortilla chips (salsa or cheese flavor, please), in part because the physical act of eating a lot of chips, one chip at a time, is a distraction from the emotions. When I get super stressed, I wind myself up way beyond the point where it’s helpful. I can’t sleep, I can’t think about anything but the problem at hand. Sometimes there’s nothing to do but wait, and a sensible person would say, “well, it’s time to do something else for a while.” I can’t seem to do that. I try to go for a long walk and listen to an e-book; I call patient friends to vent; I write. Sometimes, none of that works. Tortilla chips work brilliantly, especially if I also have a familiar favorite book to re-read. It’s the combination of pleasurable taste, comforting associations, and mindless physical activity. It doesn’t solve anything, of course, but it’s like a “rational brain reset” button. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/34 "2010-03-12T21:57:41Z")
Oh heck yeah. Usually chocolate. It helps like a shock of whiskey helps a drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/35 "2010-03-13T00:29:44Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Like some said in the other thread, I have no appetite when I’m hungry. When I broke up with the first boy who tricked me into falling love with him, I had to force myself to eat after 48 hours of not doing so, because I knew I was supposed to eat. I’m yet another person like this. I can’t eat when stressed or sad. I end up not eating for a few days when someone close to me dies (and when my cat passed away after having her for 24 years, I think I went a week); strife in a relationship is usually good for a couple of days’ fasting, and I ended up not eating for two weeks when my marriage was falling apart. That fast was only broken because we had to go to an Easter family dinner to keep up appearances for her grandmother, acting like everything was normal. This week, as my current relationship has been on the rocks, I’ve managed a bite of a Three Musketeers bar and a tomato since Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/36 "2010-03-13T00:48:49Z")
No. Food doesn’t have an emotional connection for me. And when I am depressed or angry I lose my appetite (although I never fast because it makes me seriously ill - I just feel grossed out at the thought of eating, but force myself to eat anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/37 "2010-03-13T01:37:45Z")
I would say I don’t overeat due to unhappiness or stress. I used to be fat\*, lost weight 5 years ago, and I’m on a pretty structured eating plan for life (in a way that is easy for me to manage and makes me happy, no terrible deprivation or yucky foods!). If I ever do think, oh, just eat ice cream, I would immediately think how that would make me feel fat, out of control and STILL unhappy. I am occasionally still guilty of eating to celebrate - raise/promotion/party - FOOD! That has been a much harder habit to break. - I was never an emotional eater, per se. I might have ate out of boredom, but rarely because of unhappiness. I was heavy because I ate too much of the wrong kinds of food pretty much all the time. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/38 "2010-03-13T01:37:51Z")
I’ve seen myself quoted in this thread several times, and it wasn’t until post 35 that I realized I said “I have no appetite when I’m hungry.” Clearly everyone got what I meant, but it’s still amusing to me. So anyway, as a coworker was leaving work today, she said, “It’s been a long day, I deserve some chocolate.” Having just read this thread minutes earlier, I asked if she found eating comforting. Her response was in general, no, but she makes a point of eating healthy food and abstaining from junk, so after a hard day, she figures a piece of candy won’t hurt anything, and she’s earned the right to indulge in the occasional guilty pleasure. That made sense to me, but strikes me as a bit different from using food as a coping mechanism for depression. Still, I think I may see the common thread here. Emotional eaters, do you think of food as a reward? Do you do this with other things? When managing difficult emotions, are you more likely to, say, go shopping as well, or do whatever else it is you enjoy? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/39 "2010-03-13T01:42:21Z")
I marked “sometimes.” When I’m really off the deep-end, I lose my appetite completely. This has only happened to me once or twice in my life. When I’m just a little bit down, there are definitely certain foods that, like settling down with a couple of pints, will give me enough of an endorphin rush to take the edge off. I’m male, for those gathering stats. I don’t reach for the sweets, but rather spicy foods, barbecue, or heavy meat-and-starch dishes if I want to self-medicate through food. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271/40 "2010-03-13T01:44:10Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Emotional eaters, do you think of food as a reward? Do you do this with other things? When managing difficult emotions, are you more likely to, say, go shopping as well, or do whatever else it is you enjoy? This is more close to what I used to do. I’d travel long distances for work, work long hour days and think stuff like “Wow, I had a tough day, I deserve X”. I’d be alone in a hotel, with a comfy expense account and order a huge dinner, wine and dessert. If the place I was training had donuts, well, I should have a donut! If I stopped to expense a Starbucks coffee, I got a big one with whip and a BIG danish, because I should have it! I could rationalize almost anything as being deserving of a special treat. I really try not to do it anymore, or save it for truly special situations like my birthday or Christmas dinner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-to-help-cope-with-emotional-issues/532271.md?page=3)