I have a lot of people write to me and ask about specific topics, nonetheless, this one really caught my eye as well as my attention...Why? Probably because I know people that have suffered from this disorder. It is not at all something easy to to get through quickly. There cannot be a time limit put on the healing process, nor can anyone anticipate the outcome and for some, it is a lifetime of struggle.
You read about such disorders on a daily basis, and although you may not be a victim of food cravings and binge eating, there may be others very close to you that do suffer from this form of an eating disorder. There is very little that distinguishes compulsive overeating from other forms of substance abuse, and from addictive behavior in general. As with substance abuse and generally addictive behavior, stress, boredom, disappointment, anxiety, loneliness, insecurity, depression, and other negative emotional states all crave relief in some way.
Beyond drugs and alcohol, one of the other ways many people have found to assuage those ill feeling and find the relief they crave is through the comfort of certain foods, or even simply through the comfort provided by very the act of eating. We all say that we are so hungry that we could eat the house...but there are those who eat, and eat, and eat without even realizing it.
Eating disorders are not just about food. That much has been clear for
decades, but researchers are still working to untangle the complex
psychological, cultural and physiological roots of afflictions such as
binge-eating disorder (BED) and bulimia. Now a growing body of work is
finding that disordered eating is connected to attention deficits and
poor self-awareness.
So, what are binge eating disorders exactly?
- Eat more quickly than usual during binge episodes
- Eat until they are uncomfortably full
- Eat when they are not hungry
- Eat alone because of embarrassment
- Feel disgusted, depressed, or guilty after overeating
Usually, giving in to the craving results in the person feeling worse, not better, heaping guilt and shame atop whatever negative feelings they were already experiencing to begin with.
As with all forms of addictive behavior, there may often be a “trigger”, or an event that provokes the craving. This can be a television commercial, an impending part of a person’s daily routine (ie. work or school), an argument, a particular memory, the presence of a particular person, etc. Any of these can lead to a person craving certain foods (or food in general) when their body is not actually hungry.
Listen to your cravings closely, and not only because, in part, many times those cravings will be displaced desires for some form of mental or emotional fulfillment. Listen to them also in part because every once in a while, a craving is an honest-to-goodness cue from your body that a particular nutrient is lacking at that moment and sorely needed. When you have a craving that you may consider absurd (in other words, for something other than fats and sugars), consider that your body may be telling you that it needs some nutrient which that food contains.
- Depression. As many as half of all people with binge eating disorder are depressed or have been depressed in the past.
- Dieting. Some people binge after skipping meals, not eating enough food each day, or avoiding certain kinds of food.
- Coping skills. Studies suggest that people with binge eating may have trouble handling some of their emotions. Many people who are binge eaters say that being angry, sad, bored, worried, or stressed can cause them to binge eat.
- Biology. Researchers are looking into how brain chemicals and metabolism (the way the body uses calories) affect binge eating disorder. Research also suggests that genes may be involved in binge eating, since the disorder often occurs in several members of the same family. Neuroimaging, or pictures of the brain, may also lead to a better understanding of binge eating disorder.
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