Binge Eating Disorder

Binge Eating Disorder is probably the most common eating disorder, affecting about 2% of all adults. It is slightly more common (3:2) in Women than men. Often these people lose and gain back weight ('yo-yo' dieting) and are often obese, having become overweight in childhood. Binge eating is twice as common in obese people compared to normal weight people.

Binge Eating Disorder is different than Binge-Purge Syndrome which is also known as bulimia nervosa. In binge eating disorder, people usually do not vomit (purge), fast, or take laxatives or diuretics (water pills).

Millions of people suffer from eating disorders, but binge eating disorder is just being recognized as a separate condition. Many of us over-eat from time to time, but with this disorder several things occur:

People with binge eating disorder feel disgust, guilt and depression after overeating

People with binge eating disorder eat alone because they are embarrassed at how much they eat

They eat much more rapidly than usual

They eat large quantities of food even when they are not hungry

People with this disorder eat until they are uncomfortably full

As high as 5% of individuals with binge eating disorder have a history of depression, but it remains a mystery if the depression is the cause of the binge eating. Many things can trigger a binge, including: Anger, sadness, stress, anxiety, negative emotions and boredom.

Often binge eaters have other disorders like severe obesity, psychological problems and impulsive behavior. Other behaviors are more common in binge eating disorders too, especially alcohol abuse, feeling they are not 'in charge' of themselves, and not feeling part of their community. They frequently don't notice or talk about their feelings, and have more health problems, stress, insomnia, and suicidal thoughts than people without an eating disorder. These individuals often miss work or other social events and prefer to stay home and binge.