Food plays a huge role in our mental and physical wellbeing, and it’s not uncommon to turn to our favourite snacks after a stressful day, or cook for a friend when they’re not feeling great - and that’s totally fine!
However, when we notice ourselves turning to food regularly to cope with feelings of stress or anxiety, and not engaging with other ways of managing our emotions, it may be a sign that we need a helping hand.
Emotional eating is when a person regularly uses food as a means of managing their emotions, in the absence of other constructive coping strategies. In some cases, this can lead to feelings of guilt and shame with negative mental and physical health outcomes.
Some signs of emotional eating can include regularly eating when you're not hungry, craving comfort food regularly, and using food to manage feelings of stress or overwhelm.
It’s important to know that emotional eating is not an eating disorder, however it can be a sign of disordered eating, that may place someone at higher risk for developing an eating disorder.
Disordered eating behaviours can look like:
Emotional eating is when someone uses food to manage emotions such as stress, overwhelm or sadness and can become a habit over time.
Binge eating is when someone consumes large amounts of food in a short amount of time. It’s often done in secrecy and can be accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame.
While different, these two behaviours can be connected to disordered eating. As a result, they may increase someone’s risk of experiencing mental ill-health, poor body image and low self-esteem.
Knowledge is power! The more you learn about these experiences, the more supportive environments you can create. In this video, TJ shares some of their experience and how they're learning to focus on what their body can do. You can hear more stories like this on our free mental health storytelling app, OurHerd.
Before you approach anyone, it can help to have a plan, be prepared, and educate yourself about emotional eating, eating disorders and effective treatment options.
If you're not sure where to start, our friends at Butterfly have some great resources on how to start the conversation, at butterfly.org.au.
batyr is a youth mental health organisation driven by young people for young people. We empower young people to take charge of their mental health early and often .
The information on this page is intended as a general guide only and is not a substitute for professional, personalised mental health support.
If you need support, visit our Get Support page for a comprehensive list of free, confidential mental health services available to you.