HUNGER AND MENTAL HEALTH

Food is the known and the most important nutritional support for all organisms. Lack of food is the major outcome of many health hazards including our mental health.

Hunger affects both the physical and mental condition of an individual. Researchers have found that hunger plays a very lethal part in functioning and development. Insufficient food can take away all the essentials that our mind and body demands for evolution.

WHAT IS HUNGER ?

When an individual is not provided with sufficient food then they feel hungry. Hunger can be termed as a desire to eat and the need to eat. Satisfying hunger is one of the basic and the primary need which has to be fulfilled. When someone cannot afford daily nutrition or has ran out of food for more than a day or two, they feel the pain of hunger. Due to absence of nutrition in the body and no consumption of nutrients can lead to many disorders and will affect a person’s mood or give an individual stress and anxiety. The person will certainly not have energy and will struggle to survive. Walter Cannon believes that ‘hunger pangs’ causes hunger and food is the only source to stop these pangs.

WHY DO PEOPLE EAT ?

Food is required for the proper functioning of a brain and body. People eat to be heathy and energetic. Biologically, one can feel the pain of hunger because of the response caused by our brain, stomach and pancreas. These three body parts are mainly involved in the hunger process. Hormonal impact caused due to insulin and glucagon are the factors that make an individual hungry and they begin to eat. The pancreas secretes insulin in the body to control the level of fats, carbohydrates and protein. This hormone can make one feel hungry and help control hunger. It is found that the insulin level which creates hunger increases before we eat something. Functioning of the brain is very important for any metabolic activity in the body, just like hypothalamus (part of the brain forebrain) regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep and emotions.

There are times when people eat, even if they are not hungry. This is a type of hunger reflex, where a person desires to consume food. Their brains say that they have to eat, even though they are not hungry. This happens because consuming food at a particular time is a part of their routine

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH ?

The term mental health can be defined as wellness or well being. Psychology is a field that mainly focuses on an individual’s behaviour and mental process. Mental health focuses on how people think, feel, store, understand and use the information provided. The process is a part of all schools of psychology and its centres on problem solving, intelligence, language, learning, behaviour, consciousness, comprehension and compassion.

DOES HUNGER AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH ?

Absence of nutrients in the body has a major impact on mental health. An adult facing hunger has problems such as stress, depression, trauma, memory loss, anxiety and even PTSD(post-traumatic stress disorder). Whereas children facing hunger have behavioural issues. They are always cranky and aggressive in nature. Children facing hunger go through malnutrition and also have developmental issues. They lack bodybuilding nutrients and many face learning disabilities.

Hunger and mental health are linked. When an individual goes through hunger he/she is not able to focus on a particular thing. The absence of focus can make them take stressful and wrong decisions. If an adult either men or women faces financial issues and is not able to afford one time meal often feels depressed. Depression is the most common mental illness that occurs during hard times. Hunger makes a person take stressful decisions, such as choosing between buying food and paying bills, schools fees or house rent. Psychological stress can be the reason for anxiety and sometimes it can give an individual suicidal thoughts in extreme cases.

Food is not just important for the body but the brain too. Hunger can be really bad for an individuals brain, as lack of food can affect their memory and a good diet can improve it. Hunger can have an adverse effect on memory. As a human brain produces a hunger hormone ‘ghrelin’ in the brain which is associated with memory loss. As ghrelin increase in the body, the level of cravings for food also increases. High stimulation of ghrelin in the body can make a person hungrier but massive increase in the level of hormone can affect the brain as the hormone is linked with the cognitive impairments and memory loss.

Experiencing hunger is a very stressful thing and is also a cause for psychological distress. Human beings and animals survive on food and water. These two aspects are very important for wellbeing of a human body and mind. Millions of people encounter hunger on a regular basis and die with the disease caused due to hunger. Some even attempt suicide because they go into depression and trauma that they are not able to feed themselves and their family.

Hunger can be described as an source to poverty. The most severe problem of the world is ‘hunger’. In spite of several programs and organisations there are many who still face hunger and mental distress everyday. Hunger is not just linked with mental health but also with the survival of the entire human race.