I am 70 year old female. I am retired and live with my husband who I love. No marital problems, other than when my anxiety becomes overwhelming and I become depressed. I have a great family and have a good relationship with my adult children and their spouses and the grandchildren. I see them all frequently, even though some live far away. I had a successful career as a teacher of young children, which spanned over 35+ years. I loved being retired, as teaching had become very stressful in the last few years.
As a young female, I was a runner and thin. I could eat anything with no problems at all. Now, as an older adult, I find I can’t break the eating habits I had in my youth. I continue to walk, but can’t run because of a bad knee and plantar fasciitis in both feet. I am seeing doctors for both and do therapy for each. I notice that I overeat when I become anxious. I have successfully used meditation as a help to reduce anxiety. I also take the generic form of Lexapro, 10mg, which helps. I think my overeating from stress comes from my childhood. My mother and my sisters have had both anxiety and depression. I think I have the depression under control, but the anxiety/eating can be triggered by events such as the current Judge Kavanaugh hearing. I believe Ihave issues with my father, who’s no longer living and they way he verbally abused my mother. I can understand all this intellectually, but I still can’t control the “comfort eating.”
I have read about CBT and wonder if anyone has had succes with this as it relates to anxiety/overeating. Has anyone had similar issues for which you’ve had successful treatment?