Emotions
There are people who are depressed and do not know how to deal with their feelings and mood swings. One way is to feed their emotions with food in response to gloominess. It is a far more serious problem when depression and eating turn into a cycle. Overeating becomes a drug. It can help people escape, but it only pushes them further into depression. They might feel guilt and shame after binge eating. Like a drug, overeating is just a temporary solution. When the binge is over the problems are all that much worse, because they are now drained of energy. By not facing their problems, some people are unable to control emotions. So when the blues hit again, it is back to food to soothe those emotions.
Self-esteem
Compulsive overeating disorder is often a way of coping with depression, stress or anxiety, according to the Cleveland Clinic. People with this disorder will eat large amounts of food beyond the point of feeling full. They then feel a loss of control over their eating. The symptoms of binge eating become similar to the symptoms of depression itself, including feelings of low self-esteem and loss of sexual desire. Compulsive eaters will often eat alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten. Nearly half of the people with binge eating disorders have a history of depression, notes the Cleveland Clinic. Subjects with eating disorders report that anger, sadness, anxiety and other negative emotions trigger their binge eating episodes. As with depression, binge eating disorders might be inherited. Treatment for binge eating disorders is similar to treatment for depression and includes psychotherapy, antidepressant medicines, nutrition counseling and group therapy.
Hunger Hormones
In lab studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, researchers found that a hunger hormone, called ghrelin, may help defend against symptoms of stress-induced depression and anxiety. Findings in mice suggest chronic stress causes ghrelin levels to go up and the hormone sends hunger signals to the brain. Behaviors associated with depression begin to decrease. There is increased food intake and body weight as eating satisfies the hunger signals, says Dr. Jeffrey Zigman, assistant professor of internal medicine and psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study that appeared in "Nature Neuroscience" in June 2008. The anti-anxiety effects of ghrelin may have provided our ancient ancestors with a survival advantage when they hunted for food. The hormone protected them from fear as they fought dangerous beasts because of their hunger.
