History Main / PostStressOvereating

** Daphne's dramatic weight gain (in reality the result of actress Jane Leeves' pregnancy) was attributed in-universe to stress-eating caused by her anxiety at trying to live up to Niles' lofty expectations.

People do things that help them lower stress and try to forget after a hard day. Sometimes people try to drink their problems away. Others try to eat their body weight in ice cream. This type of behavior is a fairly common coping mechanism in both fiction and RealLife. This usually takes place after a fight with a loved one or some other type of high level emotional distress, usually while lamenting about who or what is bothering them.

Compare HeartbreakAndIceCream, ComfortFood and the alcoholic equivalent DrowningMySorrows. Many of these characters experience WeightWoe due to this. It also may lead to FormerlyFit. Contrast TooUnhappyToBeHungry, where distress leads a character to ''not'' eat.

* ''Series/UglyBetty'': When faced with big stressors, e.g. the possibility of losing her job, Amanda Tanen can clean a pan of flan in a matter of minutes. The discovery that [[spoiler:she is adopted, and the now deceased [[TheBaroness Fey Sommers]] is her real mother, and her father is unknown]] causes her to pack on plot relevant pounds between Seasons 1 and 2.

* On ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', recurring character, Stuart Smalley, in one of his final appearances on the show, is hosting his show, "Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley", but he can't get through it because he's depressed over his movie, ''Stuart Saves His Family'' [[AcclaimedFlop tanking at the box office despite glowing reviews from critics.]] He instead, spends the sketch binge eating a variety of Pepperidge Farm cookies, and chewing out the audience for not watching his movie.

** Rarity does it again in "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You"; after her mane is ruined and she's forced to cancel a photo shoot, her friends find her sulking in her boutique with the lights off, surrounded by empty ice cream cartons.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Brian is depressed because he is alone on Valentines Day, and begins to binge eat a box of chocolates. Unfortunately, he forgot that chocolate is toxic for dogs [[RealityEnsues and ends up getting sick.]]

* ADHD (in all 3 forms) can cause this, as eating delicious, yet unhealthy foods increases the below-average dopamine levels that those with ADHD suffer from. ADHD has been noted to cause obesity especially when combined with a stressful school/work life as it's a disorder that affects learning and organization skills. On the other hand, some with the disorder ForgetsToEat instead.

-->A ''diet'' is ruined! I hope you're happy.

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* Hiro and Tadashi's Aunt Cass does this in ''Disney/BigHero6'' when she berates the two of them ending up in jail because of Hiro's bot fighting.

Compare HeartbreakAndIceCream, ComfortFood and the alcoholic equivalent DrowningMySorrows. Many of these characters experience WeightWoe due to this. It also may lead to FormerlyFit.

* In ''Series/Monk'', this was how Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck got to his current state: after his mother's death, he dealt with his sorrow by engaging in binge-eating, causing him to become so fat he can't even get out of bed.

** In "What Ever Happened to Spongebob", Gary (Who has an eating disorder) ''eats'' the entire, ''year supply'' of Snail Food in joy. Suddenly, Gary enters a state of depression after realizing how ''fat'' he is.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse,'' Peter B. Parker (an older, jaded version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe) lapsed into this after Aunt May died and he and his wife MJ divorced. After he moves out and lounges around his crappy apartment gorging himself on pizza until he develops a noticeable gut [[RunningGag that almost everyone in the movie points out]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse,'' Peter B. Parker (an older, jaded, washed-up version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe) lapsed into this after his life went to bits (particularly after Aunt May died and he and his wife MJ divorced) and he couldn't cope with the responsibilities of being Spider-Man anymore, lounging around his crappy apartment gorging himself on pizza until he developed a prominent gut [[RunningGag that almost everyone in the movie points out]].

* [[spoiler:Midora]] from ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' takes this trope to a massive villainous level. He became a VillainousGlutton with a [[BigEater huge appetite]] in order to cope with the lose of [[spoiler:Frohze]].

* In the ''Dusk to Dawn'' series, Catwoman is a BigEater, so food is her preferred stress reliever. This comes from being homeless and fending off starvation everyday as a kid. In the first book ''Batman: Angel of Death'', when she learns [[spoiler:her little sister has grown into a cult's SuperSoldier]], Selina makes a beeline for the fridge and gorges on whatever she can find, including [[{{Squick}} raw eggs]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse,'' Peter B. Parker (an older, jaded, washed-up version of Spider-Man from an alternate universe) lapsed into this after his life went to bits (particularly after Aunt May died and he and his wife MJ divorced) and he couldn't cope with the responsibilities of being Spider-Man any more, lounging around his crappy apartment gorging himself on pizza until he developed a prominent gut [[RunningGag that almost everyone in the movie points out]].

* Leo Knox from ''Series/TheFinder'' is this. Before the series he had gained weight after the death of his wife and daughter, but had lost a lot of weight with the help of Walter, but he reaches for junk food when dealing with emotions. This is especially evident in "The Conversation" where the gang is helping a family that reminds Leo of his own family. Leo at first denies that what he is eating is connected to his emotions.
--> Sometimes a ding dong is just a ding dong.

* ''Series/UglyBetty'': When faced with big stressors, e.g. the possibility of losing her job, Amanda Tanen can clean a pan of a flan in a matter of minutes. The discovery that [[spoiler:she is adopted, and the now deceased [[TheBaroness Fey Sommers]] is her real mother, and her father is unknown]] causes her to pack on plot relevant pounds between Seasons 1 and 2.

* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne's dramatic weight gain (in reality the result of actress Jane Leeves' pregnancy) was attributed in-universe to stress-eating caused by her anxiety at trying to live up to Niles' lofty expectations.

-->'''Cass:''' (''angrily eating a donut'') Stress eating, because of you! Mmm, this is ''really'' good...

* David Rose on Series/SchittsCreek stress eats, especially after a romantic breakup.

->''"Everyone is dead and everything is ''terrible'' and [[PunctuatedForEmphasis I! AM! MAKING! PANCAKES!]]"''