Has your stress ever impacted your eating habits before? Some individuals dealing with stress may crave unhealthy or sugary foods like candy, ice cream, or pastries. Other individuals may actually experience a decrease in appetite.
Traumas that are faced as a child can lead to disorders like an eating disorder in adulthood. When stress is a factor, the goal of eating more or less isn’t necessarily to lose weight, it’s actually used as a way to gain control.
When someone is faced with stress, they may feel like their life is spiraling out of control, and they just want to be able to control something again. Let’s find out if childhood trauma and eating disorders are connected.
The Connection Between Childhood Trauma and Eating Disorders
Some of the most common psychological problems due to childhood trauma are anxiety, depression, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harm, and, you guessed it, eating disorders.
Neglect
If a child grew up in a home where their parents weren’t as available to them, they may not have known the next time they would be able to eat. This can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food.
If a child experienced malnourishment, they may experience a cycle of binge eating, restricting, purging, or over-exercising.
Loss of a Loved One
Eating disorders could also develop if someone experienced a loss in their life, especially at a young age or an unexpected loss. Losing a loved one can feel like your world is spiraling out of control. A child may choose to change their eating habits as a way to gain more control over their life again when everything feels a little chaotic.
Emotional Abuse
If a child grows up with emotional abuse, they may start to believe some of the attacks they’re faced with. Children will hold onto these negative remarks and will carry them even throughout their adulthood. This can lead to low self-esteem, body image issues, and the development of an eating disorder.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse at a young age can also lead to an eating disorder or disordered eating. An individual who was abused may feel like they have to look a certain way in order to be seen as attractive. Research has shown that sexual abuse victims are more likely to develop bulimia nervosa than other forms of eating disorders.
This is believed to be the case because the person may try to fill the emptiness they have with food. They’ll then purge as a way to get rid of the negative feelings that are associated with the trauma.
Life Stressors
Stress eating isn’t considered a typical eating disorder. There is still a connection between childhood trauma and stress-related eating disorders. As mentioned previously, stress can do one of two things to the body in relation to nutrition. For some individuals, stress may cause them to overeat. For others, it may lead to under-eating.
Treatment Options
If you or someone you love is struggling with childhood trauma or an eating disorder, it’s not too late to get the help you need and deserve. Whether or not what you’re dealing with is childhood trauma, an eating disorder, or a combination of the two, help is available to you.
A therapist will be able to work with you to get to the root cause of your trauma. They’ll also be able to help you find better ways to manage and cope with some of the signs and symptoms you may be experiencing as a result of your childhood trauma and/or eating disorder.
We’re here to help you take back the control you’re searching for. Reach out to us today to set up a consultation.
Learn more about our eating disorder therapy in Colorado.
