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| Food-related communication
Food has many uses other than simply stopping hunger pangs.
- From childhood, we associate food with comfort and reward (e.g., use
of treats when "grizzly" or for successful toilet training).
- Refusal of food can communicate distress (e.g., "Is anyone
interested in what I'm feeling?" or "I have no control over anything
else but I can control this").
- The statement "I feel fat" is a misidentification of a feeling. It may
have many meanings (e.g., "Something is wrong with me"; "I feel
stressed"; "I have failed my own expectations").
- It is often safer to make disparaging comments about one's body (as an
object) than to express other difficult emotions. "I'm not hungry"
may mean " I am angry with my father" or "I have something which is
difficult to discuss". "I feel gross and ugly" may translate as "I am
resentful of my sister" or "I'm worried he won't like me".
- The real meanings imply problems with self-esteem or with being
appropriately assertive, which are projected onto the body.
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