Aug 11, 2026 · 46 min · 9 segments
In this episode, Trisha and I answer a listener's question about emotional eating and why we sometimes turn to food for comfort. She shares how, when she’s feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, or upset…
Trisha McHaleGuest
Jessica CookeHost
And, uh, uh, we'd, we, we are, I guess, as, as time has gone on in, in therapy and things have changed a lot over the last 25 years, um, we are working a lot more with neurodiversity now and, and an understanding of neurodiversity.
Um, so I think it's a really, uh, pressing question for people that, that may have been diagnosed, may be, be self-diagnosed, um, may have family who have had a diagnosis of, um, neurodiversity, whether that's ADHD or autism.
For years, you know, 25 years ago, when, when people were coming into therapy, and they'd have this diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, um, this particular diagnosis given to women, um, this kind of feeling of, uh, that women, this, were presenting with a lot of emotional dysregulation.
Um, and people would say, "Oh, there's nothing you can do for that," and, you know, they'd need to be in therapy three times a week, and it's a particular kind of therapy, and, you know, people are so dysregulated.
Um, and people would become very distressed, a level of dysregulation that might lead to, um, all sorts of, of, of self-harming behaviors.
Actually, the newer research is showing that women particularly are misdiagnosed, um, and that a lot of what has been diagnosed as borderline personality disorder is actually, um, autism.
They're so good at, um, uh, putting on kind of, um- ... behaviours to fit society.
Um, and we've talked about that in all sorts of ways on how, you know, and it's about, you know, we, we kind of frame it as authenticity.
Um, but if you're a person who, um, may be neurodiverse and just hasn't had a diagnosis, you may have felt all your life that you're a little bit out of sync with other people.
And, um, but you will very soon cotton on to how to mask and how to, um, uh, uh, control and regulate yourself in social settings, and how to appear, um, as if you're coping and managing.
But you may become, um, emotionally, you know, dysregulated, uh, privately when you're by yourself.
Um, or, you know, in, in com- more comfortable situations, which c- which is generally the home environment.
One of the, one of the things that can affect people with autism is ARFID, uh, which is, uh, sensory stuff around food and eating, and only eating particular kinds of food.
Um, only eating kind of, uh, beige foods, only eating, um, or sometimes not being able to eat at all.
Um, and then of course, there's the associated, um, uh, dysregulation which can lead to using food as a comforting, um, as a comfort blanket.
And, uh, uh, we'd, we, we are, I guess, as, as time has gone on in, in therapy and things have changed a lot over the last 25 years, um, we are working a lot more with neurodiversity now and, and an understanding of neurodiversity.
Um, so I think it's a really, uh, pressing question for people that, that may have been diagnosed, may be, be self-diagnosed, um, may have family who have had a diagnosis of, um, neurodiversity, whether that's ADHD or autism.
For years, you know, 25 years ago, when, when people were coming into therapy, and they'd have this diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, um, this particular diagnosis given to women, um, this kind of feeling of, uh, that women, this, were presenting with a lot of emotional dysregulation.
Um, and people would say, "Oh, there's nothing you can do for that," and, you know, they'd need to be in therapy three times a week, and it's a particular kind of therapy, and, you know, people are so dysregulated.
Um, and people would become very distressed, a level of dysregulation that might lead to, um, all sorts of, of, of self-harming behaviors.
Actually, the newer research is showing that women particularly are misdiagnosed, um, and that a lot of what has been diagnosed as borderline personality disorder is actually, um, autism.
They're so good at, um, uh, putting on kind of, um- ... behaviours to fit society.
Um, and we've talked about that in all sorts of ways on how, you know, and it's about, you know, we, we kind of frame it as authenticity.
Um, but if you're a person who, um, may be neurodiverse and just hasn't had a diagnosis, you may have felt all your life that you're a little bit out of sync with other people.
And, um, but you will very soon cotton on to how to mask and how to, um, uh, uh, control and regulate yourself in social settings, and how to appear, um, as if you're coping and managing.
But you may become, um, emotionally, you know, dysregulated, uh, privately when you're by yourself.
Um, or, you know, in, in com- more comfortable situations, which c- which is generally the home environment.
One of the, one of the things that can affect people with autism is ARFID, uh, which is, uh, sensory stuff around food and eating, and only eating particular kinds of food.
Um, only eating kind of, uh, beige foods, only eating, um, or sometimes not being able to eat at all.
Um, and then of course, there's the associated, um, uh, dysregulation which can lead to using food as a comforting, um, as a comfort blanket.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
