Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder that affects between 2 and 5% of the population and occurs more frequently in women. It is characterized by episodes of compulsive, uncontrollable, and recurrent binge eating or large amounts of food. In addition to weight changes or being overweight, emotional symptoms such as anxiety, depression, stress and feelings of failure, guilt and/or shame are common.
If this disorder is not treated following the instructions of specialists, it can have very negative consequences, both for the physical and mental health of the person. It will be necessary to start psychological therapy, take the appropriate drugs if necessary and receive nutritional advice with the aim of controlling these binge eating episodes and overcoming all the psychological problems that arise. In this Psychology-Online article, we talk in detail about binge eating disorder: symptoms, consequences and treatment.
What is Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder is a eating disorder of severity in which the person consume large amounts of food compulsively and recurrently. During eating, it is felt that total control of the situation has been lost and, after this episode, great anxiety and concern about the weight that can be gained as a result of these binges usually emerge.
Binge eating is more common in adolescents and adults, although it can also develop during childhood. In the same way as other problems of this nature, it is a serious disorder that is usually accompanied by other diseases such as depression, anxiety or excessive consumption of certain substances. Therefore, binge eating disorder requires specialized treatment that combines psychotherapy and pharmacology with appropriate nutritional guidelines.
Difference between bulimia and binge eating disorder
Binge eating disorder is often confused with bulimia nervosa, but although they have certain similarities, the truth is that there are important differences between the two. Discover .
The main difference between bulimia and binge eating disorder is that people with the latter they do not carry out compensatory behaviors after overeating. After binge eating, they do not resort to vomiting to get rid of the food consumed, fasting, hard physical training, the consumption of laxatives or diuretics, etc. For this reason, many people with this disorder tend to be overweight and present depressive symptoms. In this article you will find more information about the.
Symptoms of binge eating disorder
How do I know if I have binge eating disorder? Frequent and sudden changes in weight, overweight, and obesity are usually physical symptoms of binge eating disorder, but it is also possible that the person affected is at a normal weight.
Next, we detail what are the Behavioral and emotional symptoms of binge eating disorder that allow diagnosing this disorder:
- Consume exaggerated amounts of food.
- Eating even when you are not hungry or feel full.
- Eating very quickly during the binge.
- Lack of control over the amount of food eaten.
- Eat until you feel completely full.
- Frequent eating alone, which stems from the shame they feel about the large amounts of food they eat.
- Sadness, shame and guilt after binge eating.
- Depression and anxiety. Discover .
- Feeling isolated and having difficulty expressing what you feel to others.
- Low selfsteem. In this article you will see what the are.
- Loss of sexual desire.
- Dieting frequently without getting results.
Causes of binge eating disorder
The exact causes of binge eating disorder are unknown, but specialists point out that there are a series of factors that can increase the risk of suffering from it. Thus, the main causes of compulsive overeating are:
- Family background: There is a possibility that genes have been inherited that make a person more susceptible to developing this disease. It is also possible that certain brain chemicals have changed.
- Psychological disorders: many people who suffer from this disease are overweight and feel bad about themselves because of it and/or have depression, uncontrollable stress, anger, sadness, worry and boredom. Alcoholism or the abuse of some substances has also been identified as a risk factor.
- Feeding: The fact of having been on many diets can end up causing that impulse to eat excessively and compulsively, especially when depression and signs of low self-esteem occur.
- Age: Anyone can develop this disease, but it is seen more frequently in the adolescent stage or in people who are 20 years old.
Consequences of binge eating disorder
The consequences of binge eating can be very serious if the disease is not treated early and adequately. The main consequences of binge eating disorder are health, physical and psychological problems which we will see next:
- Depression. In this article, we tell you.
- Overweight or obesity.
- Suicidal thoughts.
- Hypertension.
- Diabetes.
- High cholesterol levels.
- Sleep disorders.
- Digestive diseases.
- Gallbladder disease.
- Joint and/or muscle pain.
- Headaches.
- Heart diseases.
- Menstrual disorders.
Binge eating disorder treatment
To overcome binge eating disorder, it is essential to put yourself in the hands of a specialist who will establish the treatment to follow. This should be aimed at reducing binge eating in order to achieve optimal emotional well-being and achieve weight loss. Additionally, all associated psychological problems must be treated. Treatment for binge eating disorder usually includes the following:
Psychological treatment
What to do if I have binge eating disorder? Psychological therapy should be started to help overcome emotional problems and modify unhealthy habits. Psychotherapy may include:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy: essential to help overcome the negative emotions and feelings that can arise from binge eating, both those related to one’s own body image and those related to a depressed mood. The affected person is also provided with the necessary guidelines to achieve greater control of their behavior and guidance to meet the goal of losing weight if they are overweight or obese.
- Interpersonal psychotherapy: This therapy is based on improving relationships with other people in the environment, thus helping the affected person to establish healthy relationships and develop good communication skills.
- Dialectical behavior therapy: Behavioral skills are taught that help the person better manage their emotions, control their stress and improve their personal relationships. All of this is done in order to reduce that uncontrollable desire to eat large amounts of food. In this article, we show you different ones.
Pharmacotherapy
Psychotherapy can be combined with the administration of some drugs that help reduce symptoms, such as:
- Antidepressant drugs– Medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants may be effective in treating this eating disorder.
- Anticonvulsant drugs: The anticonvulsant Topiramate is a medication used to control seizures and may be helpful in reducing binge eating as well.
Nutritional treatment
When binge eating symptoms are reduced, it is very important that the affected person has the professional help from a nutritionist to improve your relationship with food and be able to follow a healthy and balanced diet at all times. Crash diets that promise rapid weight loss are not recommended until binge eating disorder has been treated.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Binge eating disorder: symptoms, consequences and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Cuadro, E., & Baile, JI (2015). Binge eating disorder: analysis and treatments. Mexican Journal of Eating Disorders, 6(2), 97-107.
- Palacios, AG (2014). Binge eating disorder in the DSM-5. Notebooks of psychosomatic medicine and liaison psychiatry(110), 70-74.
- Planell, L.S., & Mar, F.V.R. (2002). Binge eating disorder and obesity. Form Contin Nutr Obes, 5314-324.