CLINICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE INFLUENCE OF STRESSOGENIC FACTORS ON EATING DISORDERS IN WOMEN

Abstract

Eating disorders are an important object of study by both psychologists and medical specialists. Eating disorders are characterized by severe psychological and secondary somatic disorders, as well as high mortality. The study of the possible causes of eating disorders is a relevant direction in modern research. Data from these studies can be used to clarify pathogenetic mechanisms, in psychotherapy and psychological counseling. In our opinion, the most relevant is the division of eating behavior into adaptive and maladaptive, i.e., that promotes or hinders the adaptation processes of the body and personality. The existing problems of classifying the types of eating behavior in normal and pathological conditions are largely explained by the dominance of the practice of dividing “healthy” eating behavior into three types – emociogenic, external and restrictive, and clinical – mainly into anorexia and bulimia. The analysis of research results allows to confirm the thesis that eating disorders are associated with various mental and somatic disorders. The nutritional behavior of women arises in ontogenesis as a complex interfunctional psychological system and is regulated by the contradictory unity of natural needs and cultural forms of their satisfaction. In our study, we studied the eating behavior of the respondents, subjective assessment of stress, analyzed the relationship between eating behavior, subjective assessment of stress and coping strategies. The study found that women who perceive a stressful situation negatively tend to blame themselves, were dissatisfied with themselves and their behavior in a stressful situation, attribute negative qualities to themselves, and at the same time have a higher tendency to eating disorders. Likewise, the stronger a woman's emotogenic type of eating behavior is expressed, the more often she uses the escape-avoidance strategy, overeats more often and feels the desire to eat sweets more than usual.