Escapist Eating Pattern

About The Escapist Eating Pattern

An Escapist Eating Pattern is a means of emotional escape through food. People with this pattern are often passive when they encounter difficulty and struggle to face their problems. They use food (and sometimes alcohol) as a way to suppress their feelings rather than confront them.

Those with this pattern tend to prioritize the needs of others before their own. This can often mean that their own needs go unmet, and their feelings stay unresolved. This continues the cycle of escape, and since the escape is food, this can lead to weight gain.

What does an Escapist Eating Pattern look like?

• Difficulty identifying feelings

• Prioritizing the needs of others above their own

• Ignoring their problems

• Using food as an escape or as a reward

• Difficulty communicating their needs

The habit

The primary challenge for those with an Escapist Eating Pattern is to address their underlying worry. Stress management can help them figure out how to face their problems without needing an emotional escape.

Dr. Jessica Recommends:

People with an Escapist Eating Pattern are what psychologists call “emotion-phobic”. They tend to be uncomfortable with their feelings (particularly negative ones like anxiety, sadness, and self-doubt) to the point where they may not even be able to describe them. Escapism becomes their coping mechanism. They’d rather ignore or suppress their feelings than confront them, and end up using food as a means of escape.

Learning to acknowledge, accept, and embrace emotions, whether positive or negative, can help people with this pattern gain control over their eating. This includes mindfulness skills that focus on accepting their emotions and themselves.