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Undereating: Psychological/Emotional Effects
When we deprive our bodies of fuel by undereating they are forced into ‘survival’ mode to conserve energy however they can. This reaction isn’t only physical either - as well as causing physical damage, undereating can also affect our psychological/emotional health.
It’s not uncommon for girls to experience guilt about eating, even if they’re a healthy weight. Many of us have an emotional relationship with food that causes us to decide what we will and won’t eat based on how we feel about ourselves at the time - as a punishment or reward - not what our body actually needs.
When we undereat to an extreme, we can push this emotional relationship with food to a new extreme. Undereating can actually make us more likely to develop anxiety disorders, become depressed and isolate ourselves.
Did you know? Many people who are anorexic talk of being controlled by a ‘voice’ that tells them what they can and can’t eat.
Psychological/emotional effects of continuous undereating include:
*inability to concentrate
*emotional eating
*inability to accurately judge hunger and fullness
*disordered eating, or full blown eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia
*anxiety, depression, irritability
*preoccupation with food, obsessing over snacks and what you will and won’t eat
*isolating yourself from people
*self-loathing and guilt about eating
Our bodies aren’t meant to run on empty! Starving yourself can have psychological, emotional and physical effects that are hard to reverse, or actually irreversible - like infertility. At the very least, losing the ability to enjoy food totally sucks! Whether you’re underweight due to an eating disorder or continued pattern of disordered eating, or simply find it difficult to keep weight on, I’d strongly recommend talking to a doctor or nutritionist to check your physical health, and to find out how you can confront any harmful habits and safely gain weight.
For more on the physical effects of undereating click here. Also, have a read of this for more info on why dieting can do more harm than good.
Also, EDEN are a great service that exist to help girls cope with eating disorders and body image issues. You can call them on 09 378 9039 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more info.
Article by Sarah Illingworth. Who is Sarah? Find out here and meet the rest of the 24/7 Girl team too. And don’t forget to check out Sarah’s blog here!
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