Media - Stress Busters for Holidays

Date

Dear Medical/Health Reporter:

Some people overeat when they are under stress. After 9/11 many Americans went on a national binge. Some 15% of Americans confessed they were turning to comfort foods while another 14% reported eating more sweets. Two months following the terrorist attacks, one in 10 Americans had gained weight.

Psychologists have long known that there is a connection between 'mood and food.' The source of the stress may be extraordinary or ordinary. Many Americans are feeling the stress of the daily threat of war with Iraq. Others are dealing with the everyday pressures of life.

Whatever the reason, some individuals use food to fill emptiness, provide good feelings, and soothe job pressures and family conflicts. Often eating has nothing to do with being hungry. Instead it is a response to anxiety or depression. This is emotional overeating and it can be controlled.

Emotional overeating is of increasing concern because half of America is already fighting the battle of the bulge. Over half of all adults in the U.S. are overweight and a third are obese. February 23 - March 2 is Eating Disorders Awareness Week. It is a good time to stop thinking of eating disorders as limited to anorexia or bulimia since obesity is the issue facing many more people these days.

Your readers can go to www.psychologistshelp.org for a copy of Tips for Coping with Stress-Related Eating (below). Many people need psychological help, however, to confront the reasons for their recourse to food.

The American Psychological Association's (APA) Psychologists in Independent Practice would like to offer a psychologist in your area to speak with you on this subject. APA's Psychologists in Independent Practice represents independent psychologists, each of whom is a doctoral level professional licensed by his or her particular state. When you need to talk to someone who can help, you need an experienced, licensed psychologist. I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,
[your name]

Psychologists in Independent Practice...personal, confidential, private

Tips for Coping with Stress-Related Eating

Try to wait. Tell yourself to wait 15 or 30 minutes to eat. The craving to eat may pass or you may become distracted and forget about food.

Keep track of what you eat. Looking at the day's list of what you have already eaten may convince you not to have that extra helping or that sweet. Plus you will get in the good habit of thinking before you eat.

If you have a pattern of snacking at a certain time of day, change your routine to keep yourself occupied during that period.

Make it a habit to eat only when seated and when not otherwise occupied by a task. You will focus more on eating and tend to eat less.

Eat regularly. If you wait until you are 'starving,' you may lose discretion over what you eat and how much.

Put a Post-It note on your bathroom mirror or on your office computer or in your car reminding you to think before you eat. Examples might be "Are you really hungry?" or "Think about why you're eating."

Know thyself - and your weakest times and places. Don't go there.

Remove trouble. Throw out tempting foods from your home or desk. Never grocery shop when hungry; bring home only food that you feel good about eating.

Make time for physical activity. Exercise is a natural stress-reducer.

Sometimes nothing works. If you cannot stop obsessing about food, then indulge yourself. Tomorrow is a new day in which to excel.

Psychologists are frequently contacted to assist people who need either basic behavioral weight loss treatment while others suffering from depression and low self-esteem may require more specialized treatment.

Remember. When you need to talk to someone who can help, you need an experienced, licensed psychologist.