Eating Disorders And Stress: How Chronic Stress Levels Can Lead To Disordered Eating Behaviors

Stress is a natural part of life that can’t typically be avoided. There may even be positive benefits to certain types and levels of stress, like an increased ability to problem-solve and potential physical health changes like an enhanced immune response. However, when a person experiences high amounts of stress over an extended period of time, they may try to manage stress in unhealthy ways, including through behaviors that can lead to an eating disorder.  

The relationship between chronic stress and the development of eating disorders

Chronic stress can lead to a number of unhealthy coping mechanisms that attempt to relieve stress, but eating disorders in particular may be connected to this emotional state. Stress and anxiety can lead to direct disruptions in eating patterns, with some people eating more food when they are stressed out, which can potentially lead to weight gain. Other people may forget to eat entirely and experience weight loss. Increased production of the stress hormone cortisol can also lead to cravings for specific foods that people may identify as “comfort foods”—which are often foods that are high in fat and sugar and low in nutrients. Using the consumption or avoidance of food as a way to reduce stress can be one of the more common environmental factors that lead to eating disorders. 

How chronic stress affects both body image and eating behavior

Stress can worsen a person’s overall mental health and exacerbate problematic thought patterns. If a person was already having distorted thoughts about their weight or body shape, stress may worsen these thoughts, potentially leading to unhealthy reactions like restricting food intake, as is common with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. 

Emotional eating

Why emotional eating is not an effective coping mechanism

Emotional eating may make a person feel less stressed in the moment, but it might be thought of as an emotional Band-Aid. It might help a person get through a stressful time, which may not be problematic if it doesn’t happen too often. However, emotional eating does not address the root causes of the stress, and it can have negative consequences that may actually lead to more stress. 

Binge eating as a way of coping with stress

Sometimes, emotional eating may involve binge eating, or consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time. Stress can be a common motivator provoking someone to binge eat. A person who is under a lot of time-sensitive pressure, like a work or school deadline, may justify binging by thinking that they don’t have a lot of time to spend consuming food, so they need to eat a lot of food at once. 

When binge eating becomes a mental health condition: binge eating disorder

Many people may engage in binge eating from time to time, and while it may provoke some heartburn or stomach pain in the moment, it may not be particularly destructive if it happens only occasionally. When binging becomes a regular occurrence, though, it may be a sign of binge eating disorder. People with binge eating disorder regularly engage in binging, typically in lieu of other coping skills to process negative emotions and stress. Binge eating disorder can lead to both physical and mental health complications. 

How an eating disorder can interact with stress in a vicious cycle

As with many problematic coping mechanisms, using disordered eating behaviors to process stress may actually increase one’s overall stress levels (although they may relieve stress in the moment). Higher amounts of stress could then lower a person’s sense of resilience, making them more vulnerable to self-esteem and body image concerns that heighten the symptoms of an eating disorder, and the cycle can continue. In many cases, both the disordered eating behaviors and whatever is causing the underlying stress need to be addressed and processed in order to facilitate eating disorder recovery. 

Stress management techniques in eating disorder recovery

Because of the strong relationship between eating disorders and stress, learning some healthy and productive ways to process stress may help prevent the development of eating disorders and assist with eating disorder treatment. One possible way to address stress is through mindfulness. 

How mindfulness can reduce stress

Mindfulness is the practice of connecting to the present moment, not ruminating on the past or worrying about the future. Mindfulness may help reduce stress by helping people to ground themselves and find a sense of calm and peace. Mindfulness can also mitigate some disordered eating behaviors as it encourages people to develop a stronger connection to their body. For example, a person who is practicing mindfulness may decide not to engage in binge eating because they have realized they are not actually hungry. 

The impact of stress on eating disorder treatment outcomes

Eating disorders can be complex psychological illnesses that typically do not stem from one particular cause. However, given the role that stress can play in eating disorder development, learning ways to mitigate stress could help promote eating disorder recovery. 

The relationship between stress and recovery success

Stress can take both a physical toll and a mental toll on the body. As mentioned above, stress hormones can result in food cravings and physiological reactions. Eating disorders are mental health conditions, but they can also be more closely tied to bodily responses than other mental disorders, so understanding how stress impacts the body can be crucial to eating disorder recovery. 

Additionally, given how disordered eating patterns can become an unhealthy stress response, managing stress may directly reduce eating disorder symptoms. Studies have found that practicing mindfulness techniques can have a positive effect on eating disorder behaviors. 

Mental health support for eating disorders

Because of how complicated eating disorders can become, particularly if they are developed partially as a stress response, professional mental health intervention can often be necessary to address them. A therapist may use cognitive behavioral therapy to help individuals identify and challenge inaccurate thoughts that may be contributing to eating disorders. 

Online therapy for eating disorders

Disordered eating behaviors are often associated with high levels of shame and guilt, which may make some people feel hesitant to sign up for traditional in-office therapy. Attending online therapy could help in this situation, as it may help to provide a sense of distance and take some of the pressure off.  With online therapy, individuals with eating disorders can communicate with a therapist through audio, video, live chat, or a combination of these methods. 

Research has indicated that online therapy may be just as effective at treating eating disorder symptoms as traditional in-person therapy. One study examined the use of online therapeutic interventions to treat bulimia and found that similar outcomes were achieved through online and in-person therapy.