Today the police were called after a particularly bad fight in my house. My brother was arrested (for domestic abuse, I think) and will be facing charges in juvenile court. Needless to say, there's enormous amounts of emotional upheaval in my house, and personally it's dredging up my own memories of years of abuse.
I'm doing my best not to fall into the trap of binge-eating to cover up or soothe my emotions. But, as I imagine that some of you out there already know, it's a hard battle. If you have any tips, please share.
I just want to give you some support. I know how easy it is to slip into emotional eating because I am a bit stressed myself, but I am finding that emotional eating is not worth it in the long run. What other coping skills do you have aside from eating? Maybe take a bath or shower, go for a walk, watch a TV show, play a musical instrument, write your feelings out on paper, if you are angry, tear up paper, punch pillows, those are just some ideas.
I am so sorry to hear your going through this. I think sea biscuit has some great ideas! Pat ur self in the back already for coming here first!,, step one !
Thanks so much for the support and tips, you guys! I think I'm mostly over the hill now, and I'm proud that I've kept my self-control. Walking helps, as does to listening to music ("Embers" by Owl City is my favorite song at the moment) and writing. Keeping busy/distracted is useful in the short-term, but I don't think it really addresses the problem as well. For now, I'm just keeping my distance from the situation and focusing on other things (went for a long walk, have been cleaning and doing laundry, wrote and sent a letter of interest for a potential job opportunity).
Not going to slip into emotional eating...
!
