Binge Eating Disorder: A Big Unknown?
Binge eating disorder is unknown to the general population and very common in consultation.
When we talk about eating disorders, there is a slight tendency to focus on anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, and to name less often other types of eating disorders (acronyms that include eating disorders) such as binge eating disorder: known as binge eating disorder until the last update was published, where it received this nomenclature.
For this reason, this article aims to break this trend and focuses entirely on deepening knowledge of binge eating disorder, offering visibility to a problem much more frequent than we think in psychology, nutrition consultations and Hypnosis for Binge Eating Disorder but that however, it continues to go unnoticed on too many occasions.
Fun facts
Binge eating disorder (BED) is estimated to be much more prevalent than anorexia or bulimia, yet is the least diagnosed.
Approximately, it is estimated that it is present between 30% and 50% of people seeking a weight loss treatment for obesity.
Therefore, obesity and this eating disorder are closely related to comorbidity, the prevalence of which is observed higher in women than in men and in adulthood.
A little theory
When we speak of binge eating disorder, we refer to the following theoretical definition: matthewtweediehypnosis.hatenablog.com
Alteration in eating behavior characterized by episodes that we name binge eating. A binge responds to compulsive and excessive food intake in a very short space of time, until feeling unpleasantly full, accompanied by a feeling of lack of control and guilt.
Two of the criteria to determine if we are facing an eating pathology and its degree of severity reside both in the frequency and in the recurrence in which these binge episodes occur.
Food as a source of discomfort
Another third important criterion to determine is the degree of discomfort that these episodes produce in the person. And here I would like to emphasize especially that we often observe in people who suffer from this difficulty that they not only feel a lot of guilt, but they also tend to have emotions associated with the moment of compulsive and uncontrolled intake, such as: shame (therefore They often eat secretly) or rage, which end up invalidating or causing great suffering and pain to the affected people. This leads us to think about the importance of working on these associated emotions, beyond just focusing on taking more superficial measures or making binge eating disappear completely (known as the asymptomatic phase of the eating problem). Also, in the same way,
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And when speaking of discomfort associated with ingestion, it is also convenient not to underestimate the discomfort that can also be caused by those “subclinical” cases that perhaps do not strictly comply with what the theory tells us but that in one way or another, either with “pseudo-binge eating” or with episodes of eating disorder (“constant pecking”, “anxiety to eat” or “hyperingest”), they entail suffering for the person who makes their relationship with the Food is stormy and deserves to be candidates for professional help.
Overly strict diets or food bans can directly act as a trigger for a symptom like binge eating. In other words, excess control and rigidity when choosing what we eat, acts as a risk factor for the opposite situation of food lack of control, and therefore binge eating.
Clarifying ideas
People affected by this problem may believe that their difficulty is food, but the reality is quite different. Like other eating disorders, the problem is not food since it has become yet another coping or defense measure, because they have been unable to do otherwise. The real problem lies in your inner world and in the intrapsychic problems that until now have tried to give you the wrong solution with food. And here appears the main reason why the treatment of this difficulty resides mainly in psychotherapeutic help, accompanied by other complementary interventions such as education and food organization by a dietitian-nutritionist, or Adelaide Hypnosis or specialist doctors. .
Regarding the differentiation with other types of eating disorders described, it should be noted that in the course of bulimia nervosa, there is also this characteristic of the presence of binge-eating episodes, but it should be noted that despite having points in common, There is a distinction that people who suffer from binge eating disorder do not carry out compensatory behaviors (vomiting, fasting, etc.), while people who suffer from bulimia nervosa do carry out these compensatory mechanisms.
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Eating in excess or having periods of excessive meals is very common and even a very normalized and accepted experience in society. If it occurs with a punctual or sporadic frequency, in principle it is far from becoming a mental disorder such as binge eating disorder (as we have said at the beginning, one of the criteria is the frequency of symptoms). But I insist, should not "let our guard down" many other cases that develop on horseback between a disorder in its own and other subclinical or more secondary more problematic spectra.
Keys to detect it
It is never too late to ask for help, and some of the signs that can help us detect if a person can suffer alterations that can trigger a binge eating disorder are:
- Overweight or obesity and / or dissatisfaction with weight.
- Multiple weight fluctuations not justified by medical or physical causes.
- Dissatisfaction with your physical appearance or your body.
- Tendency to low mood.
- Difficulties in relationships and social circles.
- Low self-esteem.
- Sudden changes in food choices.
- Excessive preference for certain foods: especially those that are more palatable: rich in fats or simple sugars.
- Managing emotions (especially unpleasant ones) only through food.
- Use of food for other purposes or functions that are not to enjoy, feed and nourish ourselves (as punishment, reward, reward, or solution to our problems).
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