Anxiety, loneliness, and anger are common emotions, feelings that are part of being human.
What is a feeling? It’s a response that occurs on a non-intellectual level. Feelings are subjective experiences that can’t be verified by someone else.
Feelings can spur us into action, usually some form of self-preservation. If we touch something hot, we draw back our hand. Similarly, if something makes us unhappy, we may act by changing the situation or pulling away from it -whatever it takes to save our psychic skins.
Unpleasant feelings can actually serve a healthy purpose: They may prompt action that attacks a problem directly. Yes, an oral final in history can be terrifying, but one way of handling that feeling is to study. Someone who knows everything about the War of 1812 can walk into the exam with confidence. That person conquers anxiety by confronting it. The same with loneliness, or anger, or fear, or any of the dozens of other emotions we experience every day. Emotions can also help guide future actions. A student whose heavy course load causes anxiety may be more careful in planning her schedule the following semester.
Easy to say. But for some people with eating disorders, not so easy to do. Emotions spur them into action, sure, but sometimes in twisted and unhealthy ways.
For years now it seems as if everyone has been running around trying to “get in touch with their feelings.” The phrase has been the psychobabble cliche of the last two decades.
Cliche or not, for the person with an eating disorder, getting in touch with her feelings is exactly what she needs to do.
*80/35/5*
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