Obsessive Eating

By Alex Groberman, Sun, May 15, 2011

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) carries with it a number of specific symptoms that impact one’s eating and dieting habits. Recent estimates have indicated that as many as 20 to 40 percent of sufferers even go so far as to develop an eating disorder relating to the disorder.

People that are dealing with OCD tend to have particular rituals or compulsions that may extend to the way they consume their food. A number of scientists have pointed to some of the most common symptoms of OCD being the desire to eat at particular points in time, needing the meals to be a specific size or having odd methods as they apply to ingesting the food. This in turn can eventually lead to calorie counting, weight control and radical obsessions with body image.

The cleanliness of food is another big point of concern as it applies to people suffering from OCD. Thinking about the germs and bacteria that food may have can dominate the mind of a sufferer, and ultimately impact the eating and dieting habits of that particular person. Sometimes, people with OCD may feel that certain food will never been clean enough or as clean as they deem it needs to be, and thus, avoid it altogether. Often, they avoid foods from restaurants and that which is prepared by others in favor of that which they can make themselves.

Finally, fear of suffering an allergic reaction from a particular food for absolutely no reason is another common symptom of OCD. These sufferers often believe that they will be hurt by the chemicals that may or may not be used to preserve the food or by the manner in which the food was created. This, in turn, can dramatically impact the way a sufferer consumes or creates his or her food because of the way they will seek to avoid the particular food at all costs.

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