Every human being knows that food is essential to health and living. Most people will eat three regular meals, with occasional snacks in between to satisfy hunger pangs. There may be occasional binge eating to satisfy a craving for some types of food. For most people, this is a normal occurrence that happens only once in a while. They know when to stop and they can control their food consumption.
However, there are persons who develop the habit of eating more, which can develop into an erratic eating behavior. Binge eating usually starts as some nocturnal snacking that gradually develops into a regular occurrence. It is actually not being greedy, after they have developed the pattern they get an uncontrollable urge to eat. An episode of binge eating can last for one to two hours, or it can be spread throughout the day. They just continue eating under they feel they are already full and this erratic eating behavior leads to health dangers.
The dangers are not immediately eminent though, since the symptoms of binge eating is not always apparent, because the binge eater usually keeps the erratic eating behavior from friends and family members. A binge eating sufferer often will take every effort to conceal the problem because of guilt and shame, because the compulsion to eat becomes uncontrollable and the person feels powerless to stop the eating.
Symptoms
Upon close observance, you may find some changes in a person suffering from binge eating, if you suspect that the sudden increase is weight is unexplainable. Some of the telltale signs may include the following:
- Continuous eating even when full
- Inability to stop eating and the type of food to eat
- Eating large quantities of food
- Hiding food to be eaten in secret later
- Continuous eating throughout the day
- Shows desperation to lose weight or control eating habit
Causes
The causes of binge eating are many but most are related to emotions. At times people turn to food to relax. Comfort food is a term associated to foods that are simply prepared, that bring feelings of well-being, relieve stress and bring feelings of warmth and nostalgia (related to home cooking). Many Americans use food to relieve stress, a condition that is increasing in occurrence due to the many demands at work and in every day living. As the stress level increases so does the reliance on food to relieve the stress.
Stress and anxiety are triggers of binge eating. Those who experience many difficulties in their personal lives are prone to binge eating. Their inability to control their personal lives mirrors their inability to control their compulsive eating behavior, driving them to feel deeply ashamed. Binge eating can also be triggered by other strong emotions like boredom, anxiety, sadness, anger and low self-esteem.
While several negative emotions can be related to episodes of binge eating, there are also specific behaviors that are commonly manifested through binge eating, such as not being able to openly discuss feelings and emotions and the inability to feel responsible for one’s actions. Impulsive behavior and alcohol abuse are also common in people who have binge eating problems.
Binge eating can also be associated with depression, however there is no clear definition yet whether depression causes a person to turn to binge eating or if it s binge eating which causes the depression.
However contrary it may appear, there are people who are trying to lose weight who can go on binge eating. Most people, especially those who are younger are still very impressionable and think that they will look better and be more popular just like the personalities they idolized such as models and movie and music stars who look slim and sexy.
And in their quest to achieve a slim body they follow an unsupervised diet program. This is very unhealthy because in most cases their diet program will be to skip meals, lessen the amount of food they eat each day and avoid certain foods, which can lead to malnutrition and certain diseases.
When the social and peer pressure increases, the inability to achieve their desired body shape can make them feel inadequate. This inadequacy equates to feelings of worry and desperation, causing the vicious cycle of binge eating and then feeling guilty. Therefore, rather than lose weight, they gain more weight.
Obesity can directly result from binge eating and has its own sets of dangers to a person’s health. There is the risk of contracting heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels go up when a person is obese. They will also contend with joint and muscle problems associated with obesity. These binge eating dangers are inevitable because those who suffer from binge eating do not usually compensate for their overeating by vomiting or forcibly purging their food. They do not fast; they do not exercise; they just continue to eat uncontrollably.
And people suffering from binge eating usually do not care about what type of food they eat, but majority of the food they are likely to consume are unhealthy foods, causing the digestive system to work overtime. This can result in stomach and intestinal problems, constipation and diarrhea. Later a binge eater may suffer from kidney, liver and gall bladder problems.
Psychological problems are also likely to develop from binge eating. As the binge eating continues and the person to gains more weight, the sufferer will slowly withdraw from their family, friends and colleague, as their self-esteem sinks lower. They will feel extreme loneliness as they feel worthless. They can be obsessed about their weight and be depressed about it, accompanied by feelings of anxiety, worry and guilt over their binge eating. In extreme cases binge eating can drive a person to attempt suicide.
Treatment
All is not lost for a person suffering from binge eating though as the disorder can be treated. There are self-help programs that are supervised by health professionals. There are also psychological therapy and weight loss programs that are recommended to treat binge eating.
In a new study done by researches at Wesleyan, Stanford and Rutgers Universities and researchers from Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research, which was published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, cognitive behavioral techniques or changing a person’s way of thinking and behavior shows significant promise in the reduction of binge eating episodes.
Participants in the research underwent a 12-week, 8-session program of how to change their behavior and their way of thinking. And the results showed that 63.5 percent of participants of the cognitive behavior therapy group managed to stop binge eating, compared to only 28.3 percent of participants who were given a managed care self-help program.
Therapy may also include psychotherapy where a patient will be required to have regular sessions with a therapist to help the sufferer understand what makes them anxious and learn how to accept their strengths and weaknesses. It may also include dialectal behavior therapy to discuss all aspects of binge eating with a therapist.
While some forms of psychological therapy may provide cure for the psychological side of the binge eating problem, there is still the problem of obesity. The best form of treatment will be to combine psychotherapy with a medically supervised weight reduction program that is drawn out by a doctor or a dietitian. If you know if someone who is suffering from binge eating, remember that binge eating is treatable and you can show your concern by encouraging the person to seek treatment.
