Everyone has overeaten at some point or another but binge eating is different to overeating from time to time. The former is a mental health condition that can reduce the quality of life and increase the likelihood of heart disease and other chronic conditions. Learn more about binge eating and find out some strategies to help overcome it.
What is Binge Eating?
Binge eating, also known as binge eating disorder or compulsive overeating, is where a person consumes an unusually large amount of food on a regular basis. They eat quickly and don't stop when they have reached a feeling of fullness. People that binge eat feel out of control and powerless to stop eating. Their food addiction can lead not only to increased body weight but also to a variety of health problems like obesity, body image issues and bulimia nervosa.
Binge eating may occur when a person is stressed, upset, hurt or angry. It is a way for them to cope with or avoid difficult emotions.
While both binge eating and bulimia involve eating excessive amounts of food, feeling out of control during the eating period, and feeling guilt or shame after the binge, bulimia is different. People with bulimia vomit or use laxatives in order to avoid weight gain, or exercise compulsively to try and burn off extra calories. People with binge eating disorders do not have these compensatory behaviors.
Causes of Binge Eating
The exact causes of binge eating have not been clearly determined, but the loss of control over one's appetite has been linked to emotional distress. Almost half of the people with binge eating disorders have clinical depression. Emotional eating may also result from overindulging in food, drugs, alcohol or any activity for comfort during tough times. Impulsive behaviour is more common in people that suffer from binge eating disorder. Atmospheres that trigger anger, sadness, boredom and anxiety can contribute to binge eating.
Marijuana use is known to be one of the causes of binge eating disorder, as binge eating is seen to be a sort of conditioning or possibly even an attempt at inducing a feeling realised during the marijuana stimulation. People with binge eating disorder do what they do out of habit and compulsion rather than choice due to associating bingeing with relief and pleasure.
Warning Signs of Binge Eating
Compulsive overeating is not something to be taken lightly as it has a serious health impact. A person with binge eating problems will show the telltale signs, which may or may not be present in others. Some binge eaters tend to binge in private due to fear of judgement from others. Other binge eaters, however, binge in public.
Source: Walk Along
Some common symptoms of binge eating include:
- eating much faster than normal
- eating until feeling uncomfortably full
- eating lots of food, even when they don't feel hungry
- eating alone due to embarrassment
- feelings of guilt after binge eating
- excessive weight gain
- switching between diets
- high blood pressure due to excess weight
- fatigue
- restriction of activities due to embarrassment about weight
- depression
- fantasising about being a better person when thin
To be classified as a binge eater, the person must experience episodes of binge eating more than twice a week over a period of six months or more, and has associated feelings of shame, embarrassment or anger about their eating patterns.
Treatment for Binge Eating
Many people that binge eat find it difficult to ask for help due to the embarrassment that they feel and the stigma that surrounds overeating and being overweight. However, there are several treatments that can help. A combination of psychological treatments and medications is helpful in the treatment of binge eating disorder.
A nutritionist or dietitian can help the person to learn about healthy eating patterns, nutritional needs, portion sizes, metabolism and exercise. As well as educating a person, they can draw up an eating plan that is tailored to the individual and help the person to stick with it.
People will always need to eat, so a key part of the treatment is helping patients develop a healthy relationship with food. Psychologists and other therapists can help people to learn healthy ways of coping with emotions, thoughts, stress, and other factors that may contribute to a person's eating problem.
Mindfulness meditation may be a useful treatment. This therapy teaches you to shift how you attend to whatever is coming into your consciousness. You train your awareness so that you can experience what is happening from moment to moment, instead of having your mind automatically jumping to something else.
Mindfulness meditation teaches the person to be aware of how hungry they are, and what hunger feelings feel like for them. Desensitisation is also a component – reducing the feelings of fear that surround certain foods. Often, you begin with a simple food such as a raisin, and then move on to more complex foods and diets. The aim is to teach people that food is not bad, and to have a healthy approach towards it.
Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the common treatments for binge eating that addresses a person's thoughts and behaviours about eating and self-image. It uses goal setting, problem solving and relaxation to treat binge eaters.
Interpersonal therapy is another type of therapy that might be used to treat binge eating disorder. It helps a person to face and heal rifts in current relationships.
Other natural health practitioners, such as hypnotherapists and wellness coaches, can help binge eaters figure out the underlying causes of their compulsive eating and come up with a plan to stop it. If you are just starting out, be patient with yourself. With the proper guidance, you can develop healthy coping skills. If you have been suffering for a while, get help before bingeing takes over your life. Eating disorders are serious conditions that may be fatal if not treated.
Originally published on Dec 08, 2008
