Life is difficult for sensitive people, especially in the modern era of sensory stimulation overload.
Many such sensitive individuals turn to food. Some develop eating disorders.
Why Hypersensitive People Find Food to be a Challenge
There is often a rush to judgment when observing obese and frail individuals. There is an assumption that one’s poor willpower causes overeating. Others simply assume poor self-perception leads to anorexia or bulimia.
Such assumptions unfairly paint with broad strokes.
In reality, such over and under-eaters are often hypersensitive to their surroundings. These fragile souls take insults personally, oftentimes too personally. Moreover, many have experienced life-changing trauma.
Hypersensitive people tend to be burdened by sensory issues including:
- Bright lights
- High/low temperatures
- Odors
Problems arise when that sensitivity leads to issues with food. Some such hypersensitive people eat in excess to balance their response to sensory stimulation. Others undereat as they are sensitive to flavors in food.
In some situations, highly sensitive people refuse to eat a sufficient amount of food as they are body conscious.
There is an underlying fear that eating too much food or even a modest amount of food will lead to weight gain and criticism from others.
Do You Have the Characteristics of a Highly Sensitive Person?
Chances are you’ve struggled with food. Nutrition is fundamental to life yet it is difficult to manage.
If you have battled food challenges in the past or have always had an awkward relationship with food, you might be hypersensitive.
Highly sensitive people tend to live polarized lives. These individuals gravitate toward extremes as manifested by their inclination toward the development of eating disorders.
In addition to bipolarity, hypersensitive individuals are often described as:
- Perfectionists
- Deep thinkers
- Emotionally sensitive empaths
- Conscientious
- Reserved
Sensitive individuals also tend to worry at a high frequency, shy away from life’s novelties and struggle with transitioning between tasks. These moody individuals often attempt to balance their emotional swings with routine and structure.
If you exhibit one, several or all of the traits listed above, you are likely a hypersensitive individual. Your challenge is to acknowledge your sensitivity while simultaneously sidestepping depression and eating disorders.
If you aren’t sure where to start, don’t panic. A food psychologist in New Jersey will help you navigate the maze of eating and life for mindful nourishment.
Processing Sensory Stimuli
The slightest sensory stimulation has the potential to trigger a hypersensitive individual.
Restaurant noise, odors, food texture and other sensations can lead to overeating or no appetite at all.
Sensitive individuals have unique nervous systems that respond differently than others. In short, their nervous systems process sensory stimuli differently. Moreover, these individuals’ brains process foods in a unique way.
Sensitive people are unique in that their nervous systems intake sensory information with considerably more impact and depth. Every aspect of living and food itself is amplified.
Even subtleties such as the food temperature, its smell, presentation and restaurant ambience matter a great deal. In some cases, exposure to bright light in an eating space has the potential to eliminate appetite.
There is even the potential to absorb others’ emotions. Those who pick up on others’ anxiety and stress related to food tend to struggle with eating. In some cases, these highly sensitive people make that stress their own.
Appetite and disruption alike are severely disrupted when highly sensitive individuals are stressed. Even slight exposure to sensory stimulation has the potential to create a fight or flight nervous system response.
Such extremes ultimately end in excessive eating or little-to-no eating at all. If the nervous system responds negatively, it is in fight mode. The urge to “fight” is characterized by the following:
- Minimal appetite
- Indecisiveness
- Feeling overwhelmed
In contrast, minimal sensory stimulation leaves the nervous system and body in rest and digest mode, also called the parasympathetic mode. In this state of existence, the hunger cue is clear. Digestion is functional, there is a feeling of satiation and the fullness cue in the gut-brain connection is recognized.
The challenge of highly sensitive individuals is to maintain an equilibrium between the two modes. Unfortunately, such sensitive souls tend to rapidly transition between the two extremes at a faster pace than so-called normal people.
Moreover, highly sensitive people transition between the two states in a dramatic fashion. Such rapidly-changing transition between polarities makes it difficult to eat in moderation.
If you are experiencing such difficulty, consider nutritional psychology. A nutritional psychiatrist in New Jersey will help you eat mindfully and also in moderation.
The “Why” of Hypersensitive Individuals’ Eating Disorders
Highly sensitive people find food and eating inherently challenging as they tend to be overwhelmed by sensations. Those sensations stem from both food and environment.
Sensitive people often feel overwhelmed by food, beverages and even the odor created by the cooking process. Oftentimes, it is difficult for others to understand this sensory overload.
There is the potential for a unique or subjectively off-putting food texture to trigger sensitivity. In some cases, highly sensitive people insist the texture of food causes a powerful physical reaction that ruins appetite.
There is even a chance that the overstimulation of one’s surroundings will lead to a bad food outcome. If one’s home environment, school cafeteria, work break room or other space is cluttered, that individual will feel stressed.
Stress tends to reduce appetite, sometimes to the point that one has no desire for food at all. In contrast, if a sensitive individual is in a clutter-free space with minimal noise, he or she might be inclined to indulge to the point of overeating.
Sensitive individuals also tend to be in tune with their social surroundings to a fault.
These hyper-aware individuals often suffer from social anxiety when eating. Fear of judgment or social ostracization sometimes causes these sensitive individuals to abstain from eating in social situations.
Even the pace at which others eat has the potential to make one feel pressured to eat at a similar speed. Sometimes, simply watching another person eat quickly makes the onlooker feel pressured to do the same.
The Connection Between Physical Sensations and the Mind
Highly sensitive individuals have comparably strong connections between sensations and personal psychology. The triggering of emotions tends to lead to food cravings.
The challenge lies in being cognizant of the connection between emotions and ensuing cravings. Once the connection is acknowledged, the next hurdle is to occupy the mind with a distraction.
Digress away from thoughts of eating unhealthy food and you’ll overcome your cravings. Proactively address the physical stimulus then replace it with another.
As an example, if you feel a craving for smores and hot chocolate after exposure to cold air, counter that sensation with the opposite. Wrap yourself in an electric blanket, use a handwarmer or exercise to get the blood pumping and warm yourself up.
There are ways to feel pleasure that do not involve eating. Instead of turning to food as a crutch of sorts, get into the habit of obtaining pleasure through hobbies.
Examples of hobbies that create pleasure include:
- Video games
- Sports
- Reading
- Playing an instrument
- Journaling
Others choose personal calendaring in which they plan out their activities for the week or month ahead. The act of planning for the future is important as it gives one something to look forward to.
Even the simple act of writing down your food craving in response to a specific stimulus can be quite powerful in and of itself.
Continue to proactively acknowledge your food cravings in response to stimuli and you’ll eventually unpair pleasure and pain relief from food consumption. This strategic approach recommended by food psychologists ultimately helps people like you avoid emotional eating.
Continue to Reflect and Deflect
Reverting to old habits is only human nature. Go a day, a week or a month without over or under-eating in response to stimuli and you’ll be tempted to revert to your old ways.
Instead of relapsing, pause to take time to reflect on what, exactly, is steering you toward food. Take note of your unique triggers, emotions and hunger signals.
Acknowledge when you feel the urge to eat due to the following feelings:
- Fear
- Anger
- Sadness
- Jubilation
- Other emotions
Now that you’ve reflected, the next challenge is deflecting. Deflect the stimulus, the emotion and the urge to eat or abstain from eating altogether.
Deflection requires an understanding of your personal psychology. Perform some introspection to truly understand your thoughts and feelings.
If you aren’t comfortable exploring your own thoughts, ask for assistance. A food psychologist in New Jersey will listen closely as you speak, respond with tailored advice and help you avoid an eating disorder.
A nutritional psychologist in New Jersey will also help you develop alternative behaviors used in place of food. This is the professional guidance everyone needs for mindful eating.
Meet With a Food Psychologist
As a hypersensitive individual, you bear the burden of society’s excessive stimulation and ensuing responses. Those responses have the potential to manifest in the form of an eating disorder.
Our food psychiatrist is here to prevent such an outcome. Meet with our nutrition and mental health expert, develop a strategic plan for food and you’ll finally enjoy life.
Your journey to healthy eating and thinking starts with a nutritional psychology consultation. Reach out to our New Jersey food psychologist today at 908-844-8547.
