An Australian study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that almost half of those surveyed craved chocolate when depressed and that the majority of those who had cravings reported that eating chocolate makes them feel better.
About 54 percent of participants reported food cravings and 45 percent of these people specifically named chocolate as the food they craved. More women than men reported craving chocolate, with 51 percent of women vs. 31 percent of men reporting this craving.
"Our most intriguing finding was the specificity of the links between chocolate craving and personality styles," said authors Dr Gordon Parker and Joanna Crawford from the University of New South Wales' psychiatry school and Black Dog Institute. Chocolate cravings occurred more often in depressed people who had symptoms of feeling irritable and being scared of social rejection.
About 61 per cent of those who craved chocolate reported that it improved their mood and made them less anxious and irritable. This finding was "consistent with these individuals judging chocolate as reducing anxiety and irritability," said the authors.
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