Lately, there’s been internet memes surrounding the topic of “depression meals.” Essentially, depression meals are easy to eat foods for when you have no appetite, energy or desire to eat. Depression meals are a very real phenomenon but they aren’t usually healthy and definitely not recommended. As always if you’re struggling with mental health you should seek help as soon as possible. Disordered eating is a serious issue, but knowing that you’re not alone can be cathartic. With that being said, what are Her Campus Geneseo’s correspondents go-to depression meals?
Victoria Cooke
My go-to depression meal is always just spoonfuls of peanut butter and black tea. Peanut butter is relatively filling, sort of healthy and very easy to eat. And I need the black tea or else I get a headache due to caffeine withdrawal. It’s the bare minimum, baby! Other favorites are cinnamon toast with cream cheese, microwavable apple cinnamon oatmeal and pasta with vodka sauce.
Jessica Bansbach
As with almost everything else in my life, I go through hyperfixations with food. I will eat the same thing for dinner five nights of the week for a month until I become so sick of it that the mere thought of it rises discomfort in my stomach. I still miss the concept of vegan grilled cheeses.
Past that, my staples are no different from that of a five-year-old child’s. Dinosaur chicken nuggets, those smiley-face fried potatoes and frozen pizza (California Pizza Kitchen BBQ if I’m feeling myself) for days.
Kayla Glennon
Usually, if there’s nothing that I feel like eating, I’ll go for something that I don’t have to chew like apple sauce, a smoothie or ice cream. But sometimes if I don’t have the energy for even that, I’ll convince myself I’m somehow superhuman and can survive without food for the rest of the day.
Hannah Fahy
I don’t think I have a specific depression meal, but I do notice that I will only eat what’s easy and takes no work if I’m upset. I relate to the concept of depression meals, but I have no one depression meal.
Rebecca Hagan
My go-to back during my freshman and sophomore year when anxiety would make me lose pretty much my entire appetite was spoonfuls of peanut butter. Sometimes spoonfuls of peanut butter on pieces of a chocolate. French fries and mozzarella sticks also worked well because of their wonderful salty fried goodness. Also strawberry milkshakes, even though I prefer chocolate, because chocolate at night when my stomach and appetite was weird was not always the best idea. Also it’s a pretty pink color that would bring me a bit of joy.
Megan Kelly
It depends on what type of depression I’m feeling. If it’s more of an anxiety depression, I can’t eat anything for the whole day, and if I do it it’s something small like a granola bar. If I’m more depressed depressed, I’ll end up eating like a bag of chips or a lot of sweets. I always get a stomach ache after doing this, and you’d think my brain would realize this, but it hasn’t so far.
Nicole Callahan
Did you know that if you order the biggest bag of popcorn at a movie theater you can get a refill? So at the end of the movie, you can ask for a refill and spend the next week eating increasingly stale popcorn. Low effort and high levels of salt and butter. Just an idea.
Hopefully you never need to revert to any of these meals!
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