77: Quarantine Resilience – Growing Through Our Pain

The Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross Show: Binge Eating Disorder, Stress Eating, Emotional Eating, Food Addiction

“Pain can be an invitation to heal.”

When we began talking about the quarantine it was 8 months ago and I'm sure you, like me, had no idea that it would last this long. Because it has lasted so long, I am hearing from people all over the world and also reading the research showing that there are record increases in mental health issues.

Social isolation, fears about the virus, home-schooling, working from home, unemployment, and financial stress can lead to binge eating, emotional eating, and food addiction behaviors. Building resilience will help you get through difficult pandemic/quarantine struggles. As well, many people are finding they have grown in response to their struggle or loss.

In this podcast, you will learn:

• 10 steps you can take to build resilience.
• How to take advantage of your struggles to build self-confidence
• What you can do to find comfort without binging, emotionally eating, or having food addiction behaviors.

Mentioned on the show: Take the Resilience Quiz - https://carolynrossmd.com/resilience-questionnaire/

Exercise mentioned in the podcast: When one door closes, another opens.

The goal of this exercise is to help you realize that the end of one thing is also the beginning of something new. Also, the end of something positive is not only a negative. Shifting your perspective can help you to refocus from what is not there to the potential of the future.

1. Think of a time in your life when a door closed - you lost a job or a relationship, a business failed, etc. Then answer these questions: - What was the door that closed? - What led to the door closing? - What new experience came into your life? - What did you learn from this experience? - What character strengths did you use to get through this?

2. Now think of all the people who have helped you in the past to open new doors? What did they do? What can you do to help others open new doors?

Thanks for listening! If you are struggling and need professional help to manage stress during the pandemic, you can find a list of resources: https://bit.ly/3ooKNIC Schedule a free consult to discuss your food and body image issues: https://findingyouranchor.as.me/consult The Anchor Program is a 12-week non-diet program offering ONLINE group and individual sessions for the treatment of binge eating, emotional eating, food addiction, and compulsive overeating. Want to learn more about the Anchor Program? https://AnchorProgram.com Where you can find me: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/real-healing https://www.youtube.com/user/DrCarolynRoss Be sure to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and leave us a rating and a review!