Overeating, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Beat, refers to “eating more calories than your body uses for energy.” There are many reasons why people overeat. Sometimes people overeat for emotional or psychological reasons (e.g., boredom, anxiety, depression, stress, etc.) as a method of self-soothing. Some people may simply enjoy food and overindulge a bit too much or too often. Whatever the reason, the detrimental effects remain consistent: overeating can lead to a host of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. Obesity is essentially an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to one’s health. Harvard Health explains that the healthy range for body mass index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 24.9, overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9, and obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or higher. More than 30% of Americans are obese, according to the American Psychological Association. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. There are many different mental health treatment options and a variety of therapeutic modalities used to help people struggling with overeating.
CBT For Overeating
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a structured, short-term, goal-oriented form of psychotherapy. CBT holds the basic assumption that one’s thoughts govern one’s feelings, which in turn affect one’s behaviors. Through CBT, an individual will learn to understand that the way they behave has a direct correlation with their personal attitudes and emotional problems. The idea behind CBT is to help people break unhealthy behavioral patterns by identifying and replacing them with positive thinking patterns. By addressing and working on adjusting unhelpful and inaccurate thoughts and feelings that lead to repeated harmful behavior choices (e.g., engaging in overeating) a person can learn to replace the damaging thought processes with healthier behaviors and more positive emotions. Because CBT challenges and disrupts unhelpful cognitive distortions and behaviors surrounding overeating, one’s ability to maintain dysfunctional eating habits becomes increasingly difficult. Overtime, the goal is that through rewarding oneself for making healthier choices the negative internal dialogue will quiet and a more positive internal dialogue will become automatic.
Treatment In Calabasas
Calabasas is a city in California. It is a well-known suburb of Los Angeles, located west of the San Fernando Valley and north of the Santa Monica Mountains. Over the past decade, the city of Calabasas has grown in its reputation for luxury as well as for privacy which makes it a hidden gem for residential living for society’s elite, and one of the most desirable destinations in Los Angeles County. It is also home to a plethora of highly qualified mental health clinicians providing an array of therapeutic services and treatment options.
The information above is provided for the use of informational purposes only. The above content is not to be substituted for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment, as in no way is it intended as an attempt to practice medicine, give specific medical advice, including, without limitation, advice concerning the topic of mental health. As such, please do not use any material provided above to disregard professional advice or delay seeking treatment.
