What is Binge Eating?

Posted by editor2 on Friday 03 Apr 2009

An eating disorder is to eat, or avoid eating, which negatively influences both one’s physical and mental health. Binge eating is also known as Obsessive Compulsive Overeating; it is one of the most common mental disorders and is connected with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

It involves the consumption of very large quantity of food in a short period of time. People at any age can develop this peculiar disorder, but it is seen most in young adults. Studies show that obese binge eaters have much higher levels of depression than other obese individuals that do not have a binge eating disorder. The individual has feelings of guilt and disgust that leads to depression.

People usually struggle with binge eating are likely to have alcohol problems and engage in impulsive behavior, such as not thinking before acting out. They do feel that they can not control themselves, are typically not close with their community, and have difficulty discussing their feelings and problems.

They face many health problems, headaches, joint pain, muscle pains, menstrual problems, and a hard time sleeping at night. They often have suicidal thoughts, struggle digesting their food, are depressed and stressed. People that have a binge eating disorder usually have guilty feeling and are ashamed so they hide the fact that they have it. They become very good at hiding that most people around them, including family members and close friends, do not even know about their disorder.

A large amount of people who have the disorder just blame their weight on their binges and they are ignorant that there might be a psychological reason behind their binge eating, or are not even aware that the disorder exists altogether. In some that their food habits can be completely random: healthy foods a few days, attempted dieting or even crash dieting, which are followed by a relapse into binge eating. What makes an eating disorder is the addiction of eating large amounts of food and repeated relapsing in attempts to changing to healthy eating habits.