Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder (ED) that is still poorly understood and difficult to treat. However, it is more common than anorexia and bulimia.
- Binge eating disorder is most often diagnosed in adulthood, but there are early forms that are often more severe.
- This disorder generates psychological suffering and plays an important role in the onset of overweight or obesity.
When we talk about eating disorders, we often talk about the two most familiar forms, namely anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However, there is also binge eating. It was recognized as an eating disorder in its own right only in 2013, much later than anorexia and bulimia. Yet binge eating is more common. This condition concerns 3 to 5% of the population and “affects almost as many men as women”, according to’Health Insurance.
Binge eating disorder: binge eating unrelated to compensatory behaviors
Binge eating disorder is considered when recurrent episodes of binge eating are not related to compensatory behaviors, such as vomiting or the use of laxatives. This disorder is characterized by binge eating. He “is a reflection of a recurrent behavior of loss of control, overeating and associated feelings of shame and guilt”, said Hannah Kennedy, researcher at the University of Otago (United States) in a media article The Conversation.
What are the symptoms of binge eating?
This pathology is manifested by the irrepressible and uncontrolled need to eat. In binge eating, patients consume large amounts of food in a short time with the feeling of not being able to stop. The doctor may suspect this eating disorder and make the diagnosis when binge eating has occurred at least once a week for three months.
Binge eating episodes are associated with at least three of the following factors: eating quickly, eating until you feel uncomfortably full, eating large amounts of food when you have not hungry, eating alone out of embarrassment and feeling depressed or very guilty afterwards.
“A lack of awareness” of binge eating
Currently, binge eating is less recognized than anorexia and bulimia. “Lack of awareness means that people who suffer from it do not get the help they need from doctors. (…) They are also underrepresented in studies of eating disorders, which limits the ability researchers to develop treatments”can we read in the publication of the media.
According to Hannah Kennedy, less than half of adults with binge eating will seek and receive treatment. It is common for patients not to reveal their binge eating symptoms to their doctor, which means that treatments often focus on weight loss and other binge eating complications, but fail to recognize the eating disorder. the cause of this behavior.
“Awareness and awareness that binge eating is a widespread – and life-threatening – eating disorder is desperately needed to combat the current stigma and understand the causes of this behavior,” pointed out the researcher.
