Anxiety and Eating: a brief overview

[TheAnxiousEnglishman]

I thought I'd start by posting in the 'introduce yourself' section as I've just signed up today to see if anyone can relate.

I'm 23 and have just finished my M.Mus in performance and have had natural anxiety from performing concerts throughout my studies. The anxiety would often come before a performance and subside afterwards, as you would expect. Since finishing, however, my anxiety seems to have spiralled out of control.

My symptoms have altered over some time, but the one that has stayed (and the most debilitating) is this insidious nauseating feeling, with the sensation of feeling full. It has impacted on my eating and I am now underweight.

I wondered if anyone else has had problems with anxiety and eating? I'm not anxious about eating, but these sensations have caused me to abstain from it. I've learnt over this past week that if I battle through and eat regardless, it tends to go away, but it's still very uncomfortable.

It's great to meet this forum anyway.

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya TheAnxiousEnglishman and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[Annie0904]

I suffer with nausea from anxiety and find eating a problem too. It is best to eat small amounts more often.

[GlassPinata]

It's odd: my health anxiety will cause me to lose my appetite entirely, but other types of anxiety (such as stress at work or social anxiety) will cause me to overeat.

[Bigboyuk]

Apparently watching a therapy doc series on channel 5 the therapist said over eating and not eating enough and bulimia are all classed as self harm and I used to comfort eat big time hence my username I was self harming didn't realise this at the time very interesting series :) Cheers

[DoraFlora]

i'm going through this presently myself. it is horrible. but as others have said, try to eat small things a few times a day.
not eating makes you more nauseated, acidic, and weak... which in turn can fuel anxiety.


try to eat while doing another task.
like have a banana while doing a quiz online or maybe while talking on the phone. for a little bit see if this mindless eating helps.

hopefully we will get back to enjoying food soon.

-Dora