Overeating is coping mechanism for a lot of different people. We all have our own special way of dealing with the detritus which life throws our way. Most mechanisms are harmless and others are less so. Some people smoke, others find solitude in loud music, some have a drink and others confide in friends. Religion itself is a coping mechanism and so’s spirituality. Essentially we’re all looking for a way to make our way through life without falling apart and we’re all doing it in ways unique to us. For some of us it’s much easier than others and for others it all proves too much. The fact is that though in the details we’re all different, broadly we’re all very similar.
A coping mechanism can sometimes be damaging and overeating is definitely one of the more destructive. If you rely too much on any one thing then you put yourself in danger of either overindulging in a vice or falling apart when that mechanism is taken away. That’s the tricky thing, how do you cope without your coping mechanism?
Well, we’re all capable of it because it won’t have been a continual feature of our lives. How did you cope before, what did you do and who did you know? Find our what’s changed to make you overindulge in your mechanism, have you lost someone or has work become more stressful?
Essentially there are two ways of coping with your coping mechanism, which sounds ridiculous in itself. The first is to find a new one. This might be tricky to start with but by switching from overeating to talking to friends or seeing a councillor you’ll pretty much remove your inclination to binge eat. If these two don’t work for you then work out some other method of negating or lessening your stress which you prefer. The second method involves finding the stressful influences and removing them like overgrown weeds. This can mean a drastic change of career or simply ending an unhappy relationship, regardless it’ll make you feel better and halt your obsessive eating!
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