INTRODUCTION
Social isolation can affect people’s routines and mental health. The
effects can be felt through the manifestation of anxiety, depression, or
even binge eating. Studies on impacts on mental health due to the
pandemic of the new coronavirus are still scarce, as it is a recent
phenomenon, but point to important negative repercussions [1].
Gordilho (2020), explains that binge eating may have its cause in an
anxiety situation, especially during a quarantine. During this period,
some degree of anxiety may develop in the face of uncertainties, fear,
and distance from family and friends [1].
A similar situation occurred in 2003, during the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus –SARS epidemic, another type of
coronavirus, when the psychological impacts of the disease were greater
than the medical impacts, in terms of the number of people affected and
how long they were affected [3].
The rapid spread of the new coronavirus throughout the world, the
uncertainties about how to control the disease, the seriousness of it,
as well as the unpredictability about the duration of the pandemic and
its consequences, are characterized as risk factors for the mental
health of the population. general population [4]. This scenario also
seems to be aggravated by the dissemination of video clips and alarming
messages about COVID-19 through smartphones and computers, often causing
panic [5]. Likewise, false news has been shared at times contrary to
the guidelines of health authorities and minimizing the effects of the
disease [6,7].
In a literature review on quarantine, Brooks et al. (2020) [8]
identified that the negative effects of this measure include symptoms of
post-traumatic stress, confusion, and anger. Concerns about the scarcity
of supplies and financial losses also cause damage to psychological
well-being [9]. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in the
face of the pandemic have been identified in the general population
[10].
During quarantine, the reduced possibility of exercising increases the
fear of weight gain, and the storage of non-perishable foods leads to
massive exposure to crackers, snacks, frozen dishes, soft drinks, and
the like. Still, the reduction of the relationship with other people or,
in the opposite direction, greater tension in the face of occasional
social encounters, are factors that cause some anxiety, being potential
triggers for episodes of binge eating [11].
Compulsion is usually the result of a combination of factors, including
genetic, emotional characteristics related to life experiences. Binge
eating or Periodic Eating Compulsion Disorder (BED) is an eating
disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, where
large amounts of food are eaten quickly until you feel discomfort, even
when not hungry, accompanied by a feeling of a total loss of control.
The person suffering from binge eating experiences shame, anguish, or
guilt after the binge episode [12]. Binge eating occurs, on average,
at least once a week for a minimum period of 3 months. Binge eating is
not related to the repetition of inappropriate compensatory behaviors
(eg, vomiting) as in the case of bulimia.
One of the most common reasons for binge eating is an attempt to manage
unpleasant emotions, such as stress, depression, loneliness, fear, and
anxiety. But the function of food is to nourish the organism and when
used to fill an emotional gap, it is effective only temporarily, as
emptiness always comes back together with the feeling of guilt since
food works as an immediate emotional reward mechanism [13].
Thus, it is possible to see the relationship between anxiety and
Periodic Eating Compulsion Disorder, intensified during quarantine, in a
pandemic scenario, which requires social isolation. Therefore, the
present observational and cross-sectional study analyzed the
relationship between anxiety and binge eating during the quarantine of
COVID-19.