Josh TrentIdentity Transformation Architect and award winning Host of the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast—a decade-strong show with over 750 episodes and 15M downloads.

Overeating to Cope: The Shocking Link to Past Trauma #shorts

18 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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0:39

In this YouTube short, the speaker reveals that her habitual overeating was not merely a bad habit but a deliberate coping strategy stemming from past sexual abuse. By remaining overweight, she felt less visible and therefore safer, avoiding the attention and attractiveness that could trigger further trauma. As she loses weight and receives compliments, she experiences intense discomfort and fear, illustrating how weight loss can paradoxically increase vulnerability for survivors. The speaker also notes the surprising frequency of such trauma among middle‑class women, challenging assumptions that abuse is confined to certain socioeconomic groups.

Chapters

What you think is the problem, my overeating, has actually been the solution to my real problem, which is I don't wanna feel, I don't want to be noticed. I don't want to be attractive because you see, I was sexually abused. And now that I've been losing the weight, I have become so uncomfortable with the compliments, with people noticing me. I don't want it. It's too scary. So I'm sorry, but it's safer for me to be overweight than for me to be at a healthy weight. Blue is mine. What blew his mind was that these were women in the middle-class society that wasn't supposed to have all of this trauma.