Why my eating disorder turned me into a grocery thief

My God I thought I was the only one. I actually have a theory on why I do/did this: it may serve as a means to ‘trick’ your brain into feeling comfort that the scarcity created isn’t as dire as previously thought. By stealing these kinds of items, perhaps we provide a temporary sense of abundance, almost like a “hey! Hey! See? We can actually have anything we want! We’re not starving after all!”, and by doing so it feel empowered, at ease, and at peace with our otherwise helpless reality.

Wednesday Oct 17, 2018

johnalison35

Hi Tabitha. I can connect with you 100% with regard to stealing. Mainly food; from a couple of favorite health food shops. I had the audacity to steal pots of delicious honey - the expensive manuka kind I'm afraid. I privately nick-named myself the "honey thief!" I also stole some brown rice and granola bars. I never stole from main stores, but from smaller shops and even fruit n veg markets in the street. I never got caught but I also had this compulsion to steal! I even risked stealing the odd small item when I was abroad like the odd fridge magnet, bottle of water etc. I haven't streaked in years fortunately but if I know it's too risky then I won't attempt to steal. My heart went out to you when I listened to your experience of getting caught in Edinburgh. I am so relieved you didn't get charged but I can relate to your intense stress after that incident. I haven't coped with stress at all well in the past and still don't at times of worry. Thank you for this educational podcast. Alison x

Monday May 28, 2018

The Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast

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