CNN
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Growing up food insecure, Kimi Ceridon and her sister see how their childhood experiences continue to impact their lives.
Ceridon flashes back to how she used to sneak into her room with whatever extras she could find. And now she wants to get a fair portion when she shares with someone.
And when the pandemic hit, Ceridon said she and her sister talked about how mindful they had to be so they didn’t panic and run to stores to hoard food.
“We lived in scarcity, and now we were living in scarcity again, and although we both no longer had concerns about food insecurity, it brought up a lot of anxiety,” said Ceridon, owner of Life Love Cheese. , a pasture board company in Boston.
Many people like to see a pantry full of food available for them and their family. But when the amount of food becomes too large, is hidden, or becomes too valuable to throw away if spoiled, a person may experience food hoarding, experts say.
An estimated 2 to 6 percent of people have hoarding disorder, according to the International OCD Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Among these disorders is food hoarding.
About 75% of these people have another mental health problem in addition to hoarding, such as major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder or generalized anxiety disorder, the foundation said.
It’s natural to have an emotional relationship with food and to be comforted by the fact that it’s available, said Kate Daigle, a licensed professional counselor and certified eating disorder specialist in Denver.
But for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a history of food scarcity or other trauma, the desire to have a stockpile of food can become debilitating, said New York psychologist Dr. Alexis Conason.
The food reserve can vary depending on the person’s access to purchasing food, Daigle explained.
For young children, that might mean hiding food from their parents or guardians in their room or closet — sometimes eating it, but sometimes not, she added.
“It’s just about being there as a form of emotional security, coming from a feeling of deprivation,” Daigle said. “Not necessarily physically deprived of food, but maybe emotionally having a deprivation or scarcity mindset around food.”
For adults or children with access to money, that can mean going out and buying large quantities of food and sometimes also hiding it in hiding places, Daigle said.
It’s interesting to talk about food hoarding after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns because food hoarding had a use at that time, Daigle said.
But for many Americans, having a basement, pantry or entire house stocked with food isn’t necessary, she said.
An obsession with hoarding food can take a financial toll when a person spends all their money on food and cannot meet their other basic needs. There are also hygiene and health concerns when food goes bad, Daigle said.
There are also concerns about mental health and social relationships, she added. Some people who engage in food hoarding behaviors may isolate themselves out of shame or feel more comfortable around food rather than in public.
Storing more food than we need at any given time is, in some ways, strategic and common, said Dr. Erin Rhinehart, a professor of neuroscience at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
“It evolved as insurance against starvation,” she said.
Many animals have evolved food storage mechanisms to protect their survival, she added.
“In animals, if they live a short period without food, this behavior increases,” » said Rhinehart. “It’s basically an insurance policy or a way to make sure you never run out of food.”
Food hoarding may share underlying issues with eating disorders, but is not necessarily caused by them, Daigle said.
“It’s not about food. It’s about behavior,” she said. Some eating disorders have food hoarding as part of their behaviors, and the same experience can cause people to deal with both hoarding and eating disorder behaviors, she said.
Many people exhibiting these behaviors may have experienced significant childhood trauma.
“Perhaps there was a real lack of financial resources available to feed the family, and so the child could hoard as much food as he could,” she said. And as adults, people might continue to hoard food out of fear of another shortage.
But shortages of other things children need can also lead to food hoarding, Daigle said.
“This can be the case when food is controlled or a child’s emotional needs are not met,” she said.
Safety and security are not guaranteed in families suffering from addiction, physical or emotional abuse or neglect, she said.
“This can result in holding onto comfort items, whether it’s food or other sentimental items, to try to meet those needs,” Daigle said.
Curiosity and compassion
It’s common for food hoarding to cause shame and drive people into isolation, so remember to approach anyone close to you who you think might be hoarding food with curiosity and without judgment, said Daigle.
Instead of focusing on how shocking these behaviors are, learn about their emotional experience, she added.
If you see this behavior in yourself, know that there are ways to make yourself feel better, Daigle said. The next step is to find professional support to heal deep trauma and unmet needs so you can replace the food reserve with healthier coping mechanisms, she added.
However, the professional you work with shouldn’t be a diet coach or someone who shames you about food. Instead, look for a licensed professional with expertise in trauma, eating disorders, OCD, anxiety and compulsive behaviors, she said.
“The bottom line is, how much time and space does this take up in your life? » said Conason. “If you feel like it’s stopping you from doing things you love or interfering with your quality of life, it’s definitely a good idea to seek help.”