Using Mental Imagery To Conquer Overeating

By R. Jager

When most people are presented with something like a chocolate bar it is not long before they feel a desire to eat the thing. Most will simply blame the chocolate for causing the desire. They will then try to battle the craving with will-power. Usually they lose this battle and sooner or later give in and eat the chocolate bar.

We know that the cognitive process that caused the craving to eat the chocolate bar went something like this; sensory input was received through the appropriate receptors [mainly eyes in this case] and the mind formed some type of neural or sensory representation of the object that will be defined as a chocolate bar. We can regard this process as inescapable. If the sensory receptors are in working order, the mind must form a representation or neural image of the object.

When a neural image is formed we have been taught to assign meanings, from memory, to these images when they are formed in the mind. The assignment of meaning is followed by an emotional response appropriate to the meaning assigned. In the case of the chocolate bar, the meaning assigned included memories of pleasant experiences assosciated with eating chocolate bars, hence the craving to eat this chocolate bar. So really it was not the presence of the object that will be defined as a chocolate bar chocolate bar that caused the craving, but the cognitive process outlined.

Specifically it was the assignment of meaning that caused the craving, and because this assignment of meaning has become totally automatic in most people, the chocolate bar gets the blame for the craving when in fact it only had the power to cause the mind to form a meaningless image from sensory input. For most the automatic assignment of meaning meaning has resulted in the image and the meaning becoming "fused". The meaning is now seen as part of the neural image itself rather than something assigned from within the mind. This gives the stimulus the power to be the cause of the response.

Just by thinking about or reflecting upon a chocolate bar can have the same effect because a neural image is formed from that reflection. When the image has been formed the cognitive process of automatically assigning meaning to it is exactly the same as with images caused by external stimulii because it is as if consciousness is always directed towards an object.

Now we come to the bit where I think I can offer something a little different.

This style of thinking or concept formation is so habitual that most consider it to be the only model of how the mind operates. The formation of a neural image is inescapable but the assignment of meaning to it is a trained or learned mental behaviour, and it can be changed.

When we get the mind into a relaxed state and form a visualization of the neural image of the chocolate bar, we can then visualize a stream of consciousness flowing from "the self" into the visualization of the chocolate bar. When this visualization is formed, we can, in our imagination, withdraw this flow of energy, or intentionality, and then dismiss the image of the chocolate bar from the mind.

This visualization exercise severs the "forward link" of automatic assignment of meaning to the neural image. When performed correctly the individual experiences a reduction, and with practice, a removal of the desire to eat not only chocolate bars, but any unnecessay food. They become "emotionally neutral" to the stimulus because they are not completing the cognitive process that causes the craving.

The exercise is most effective when we can visualize a "space" forming between "the self" and the visualization before dismissing it from the mind. When we gain some proficiency with this technique we can greatly reduce and ultimately eliminate cravings that previously appeared to be beyond our control. We can become detached and transcendent to the images that are automatically formed in the mind.

With some modifications the basic procedure can be adapted to remove the sub-conscious need for "comfort food" and overeating at mealtimes. This allows the person to adopt a moderate eating program and lose weight without the nagging torture of wanting to eat all the time. Sure beats going on a diet.

Rob. Jager is the founder and director of the HungerMaster Weight Management Program.

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