It is completely normal for people to overeat at times. Maybe you’ve been there: you order dessert at the restaurant and walk out needing to unbutton your trousers. Or you sit and eat an entire pack of biscuits in one sitting while mindlessly watching Netflix, only to feel very bad shortly after.
While many of us have experienced overeating, binge eating disorder goes much deeper than this. It is a destructive, manipulative, and devastating force that can ruin your life and those around you. However, although many people who struggle with binging are aware of their self-harming behaviours, they often lose any sense of control during an episode.
Let’s talk about what binge eating disorder is, a few warning signs you may be struggling with it, and how to heal your body from the inside out.
For those who struggle with binge eating disorder, the urge to consume food in unusually large amounts can be completely overwhelming. Nevertheless, this intense desire to indulge brings about guilt, shame, and disgust that follow closely behind.
For individuals who have a healthy relationship with food, overeating often causes short-term regret that subsides as our bodies digest and process that bloated feeling. However, for those with binge eating disorder, overeating is often thought of as something unavoidable – like a sudden force out of their control.
The one major factor that sets apart binge eating from simply overindulging is a compulsion, the urge to act upon their desires is incredibly powerful – taking over every area of their mind and body.
How Do I Know If I Have Binge Eating Disorder?
If you have an unhealthy relationship with eating or find yourself turning to large portions of food to deal with difficult emotions or life circumstances, you may be struggling with a binge eating disorder.
The following symptoms may indicate you are struggling with the disorder:
- Eating large amounts of food in a short timeframe (usually around 2 hours)
- You feel your eating habits are out of control
- Eating when you are not hungry
- Eating incredibly fast during an episode
- Eating to the point of discomfort
- Secretly eating
- Eating and feeling depressed, guilt, shame, or disgusted about your habits
- A constant preoccupation with food
- Finding relief whilst eating, only to feel worse afterwards
Unlike those with bulimia, an individual with a binge eating disorder does not typically try to rid their body of those extra calories afterwards. They do not engage in forceful vomiting, over-exercising, or using laxatives. While some individuals try to diet, this often leads to even more compulsive eating.
The Mental Health Side of Things
While on the surface, binge eating disorder primarily affects the body – it is a condition deeply rooted in a person’s internal struggles.
Therefore, treatment for eating disorders focuses heavily on an individual’s mental health to find the underlying cause of this self-destructive behaviour.
To keep it relatively simple, negative thoughts trigger overeating. For example, a person with low self-confidence may think to themselves “I don’t have what it takes to stop binge eating. So why should I even try?”
Unfortunately, this cycle is extremely toxic: feeling disgusted with yourself after indulging in an episode may lead you to experience depression and anxiety. To cope with these difficult emotions, you may go right back to what caused them in the first place.
Helpful Tips for Managing Binge Eating
Binge eating disorder is much more than just food. It is a recognised mental health condition that often needs help from a trained professional. However, there are some tips you can use to help get you started on your recovery.
- Do not Diet: With all the latest dieting fads highlighted across social media, it can quickly become tempting to try and control your binge eating through restriction. However, studies have repeatedly shown that dieting only leads to higher rates of binge eating. We all want what we can’t have, and food is no exception.
- Engage in Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices are any activity done to get in touch with your inner self, experience life in the present rather than the past or future, and heal your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual self. When you get to know your inner self better, it can help your body recognise when you’re feeling full, reducing the urge to continue eating.
- Keep a Mood/Food Diary: Since binge eating disorder is directly linked to mental health, keeping track of how you are feeling and what you eat during those times can be incredibly useful. Not only can it open your eyes to see the connection between the two down on paper, but it can also help you understand what moods trigger an episode of binging.
Whilst the tips above can be incredibly useful for managing your binge eating at home, it is often necessary to seek professional help when trying to overcome this condition. It is not a lack of willpower; it can often be rooted in something much deeper that only a trained professional can help you uncover.
Treatment for binge eating disorder can include medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two, particularly if it is found that your eating disorder is linked to an underlying mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.
Whilst it is normal to feel guilt, shame, and disgust for binge eating or being overweight; at the end of the day, acting on these feelings can often lead to worsening this toxic cycle. This then furthers the damage done to your mental health and can lead you down a road of self-destruction.
Whatever the case, you do not have to manage binge eating disorder alone.
Orchestrate Health offers bespoke mental health services that people can access from the comfort of their own home or within their community, with rapid response times and even daily visits if needed. Orchestrate Health can provide help for those struggling with binge eating disorder, and remove the inconvenience of travelling to and from appointments.
References:
https://www.emilyprogram.com/blog/what-does-compulsive-overeating-feel-like/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-overcome-binge-eating#TOC_TITLE_HDR_16
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18589036/
