A Curious Connection Between Binge Eating and Relationships
Binge eating is often seen as a disorder all in itself. The troubling realization of this simplistic conclusion is that typically, binge eating represents more than an uncontrollable urge to eat.
Binge eating disorder and relationships?
One of the common contributors, yet under recognized, contributors to binge eating is a person’s relationships. Relationships govern so much of our lives. Whether you are an introvert, extrovert, family person, relationship person, or prefer your solidarity; relationships (or lack thereof) play a huge part in who we are and how we act.
So how do relationships relate to binge eating?
Exploring romantic relationships is a very important part of our emotional development. Although that does not mean that all of the relationships that we find ourselves in are the healthiest. When someone is in a romantic relationship with someone that is not a good fit for them, their subconscious oftentimes has creative ways of sending this message. More specifically when the subconscious and the conscious are not acting in alignment, your actions may look very out of control.
Boundaries and control are synonymous
This is because proper boundaries are not being set which makes a human feel out of control with their life. Rather, their relationship is controlling a part of them that their subconscious is trying to move away from. This can translate into binge eating. Binge eating is a coping mechanism used to make someone feel better, if only momentarily. Binge eating can feel incredibly out of control and as some describe, “it feels like I just black out.” This can be your anxiety’s way of trying to gain some sort of control over your life. If that translates into feeling out of control in the relationships in your life, there might be a strong connection between the two.
Even with this understanding, it can be incredibly hard to leave a relationship.
Seek out the support of a professional to help you explore if your relationship is contributing to your binge eating. A trained professional will guide you through the questions and answers that will help to better understand if your conscious and subconscious are in alignment within your relationship. Perhaps you are having doubts about the strength of your relationship or doubts that you will not meet someone new if you leave it? Seek out support. You deserve to have the help of a professional to navigate through it all.
REACH OUT FOR SUPPORT WITH EATING DISORDER TREATMENT
If you are interested in learning more about how I work with individuals through eating disorder treatment, please feel free to read more here or reach out to set up a free 20 minute consultation. I look forward to hearing from you!
-Ellie