Overcoming Binge Eating Disorder

What Is Binge-Eating Disorder?

Food has a cunning way of impersonating friendship—so much so, that binge-eating disorder has become one of the most prevalent eating disorder in the United States.

Even in individuals who lack sufficient symptoms to meet the criteria for binge eating disorder, sub-clinical binge eating is becoming more and more common.  Over-eating – eating beyond satisfaction or to excessive fullness – is becoming close to the norm.  Super-size, anyone?

But, for some, obsession with food and with eating creates faux-friendship with food.

Risk Factors Of Binge-Eating Disorder

• Being bullied about weight as a child
• Complicated viewpoints about food
• Turbulent or high-pressure home environments, where food became a replacement for healthier forms of security
• Predetermined-at-birth physiology or mental health makeup
• Repeated dieting cycles followed by profound feelings of shame and self-loathing
• Media messages exalting thinness lead to hopelessness about achieving an “ideal weight.”
• Anxiety or depression that leads to food cravings and compulsive eating

Bulimia counseling can help you overcome the chronic embarrassment and shame cycle that prevents sufferers from seeking and maintaining healthy change.

At Lifeologie, our qualified eating disorder specialists can help you let go of self-loathing and reactive binge-eating. Recovery is never unattainable but is always something that you deserve!

What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Binge-Eating Disorder?

Binge-eating disorder—similar to bulimia nervosa—involves episodes of unrestrained calorie consumption, in which an individual:

• Consumes an excessive allotment of food or calories in a single or brief sitting (from family size bags of chips; to entire gallons of ice cream; to a box of Boston crème doughnuts; or a rotisserie chicken, etc.)
• Eats food until reaching a point of physical discomfort or sickness (including nausea, shortness of breath, or vomiting.)
• Ingests food at a rapid pace (for example: consuming 2000 calories in a single hour.)
• Intakes large quantities of food to alleviate boredom (when not otherwise hungry.)
• Conceals overeating habits from family, friends, and co-workers by binge-eating in secret (for example: driving to remote parking lots to avoid eating meals in front of family members.)
• Experiences feelings of self-hatred, guilt, depression, distress, or shame following an episode of binge-eating.

However—unlike bulimia nervosa—individuals who are diagnosed with binge-eating disorder do NOT engage in compensatory purging methods (such as vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or extreme exercise) in order to maintain their pre-binge weight.

What Are The Long-Term Health Consequences Of Binge-Eating Disorder?

Compared to the rapid, deteriorating health consequences of anorexia and bulimia, binge-eating disorder is more of a silent killer; although in rare instances, binge-eating episodes may cause a gastric rupture or sudden death from the perforation (or tearing) of the stomach. However, more commonly, the long-term complications of binge-eating disorder are identical to those of obesity—which the disorder itself almost always causes. These complications include:

• Hypertension, high cholesterol, or heart disease, which may precipitate a heart attack or stroke
• Type II Diabetes Mellitus
• Joint and back pain, including arthritis, degenerative disc disease, or nerve impingement
• Sleep apnea (or obstructed breathing while lying flat at night)
• Enhanced risk of developing certain types of cancers (including uterine, liver, kidney, gallbladder, breast, colon, and more+)
• Gallbladder disease and Gallstones

How Can Counseling & Therapy For Binge-Eating Disorder Help Me?

Binge-eating disorder recovery should include a two-tiered approach:

• Stabilizing physical health by controlling binge-eating urges & combating obesity or obesity-related health challenges
• Enhancing mental health by addressing the underlying causes for your condition (such as parental relationships; abuse or trauma; bullying in childhood, etc.) & boosting your body image

To help you achieve recovery, your therapist may recommend the following interventions:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, to isolate and then modify destructive thought patterns about food that underpin your urges to binge-eat, and subsequently employ coping mechanisms to manage those impulses.
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy, to strengthen your relationships and interaction skills when engaging with family, friends, and romantic partners (Binge-eating disorder often forms as a result of unstable parent-child relationships in childhood or in response to a traumatic, trust-shattering event; therefore, strengthening your relationships in adulthood can actually help you to alter unhealthy relationship patterns that maintain your desire to binge-eat.)
• Nutritional Counseling, to help you devise satisfying meal plans that curb your cravings to consume high-calorie foods or food portions
• Group Therapy, to encourage you to form a support network with other individuals who are initiating the recovery process from binge-eating disorder.
• Alternative Therapy Techniques, including mindfulness, meditation, psychotherapeutic yoga, equine therapy, or expressive arts, as self-soothing tactics for food-related anxiety or deep-seated body image shame.