Let’s Talk About Binge Eating

People love to throw around the word “binge.“ Think of binge-watching your favorite show, for example. It means that the show was so good, that without taking breaks, you finished it all in one sitting. Binge eating, though, is something that can be majorly disruptive to people’s lives and sense of self. 

Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder vary, but can include:

-Feeling like you don’t have control over your eating. Once you start, you can’t stop.

-Eating large quantities of food in a short amount of time, typically within a 2-hour window.

-Eating more when you’re already full, or not hungry to begin with.

-Eating past the point of physical discomfort.

-Eating “bad” foods alone, or hiding foods from yourself or your family.

-Extreme feelings of guilt and shame about your eating behaviors.

Binge eating disorder is more common than you might think. In fact, it is the most common eating disorder, being more than three times as prevalent as anorexia and bulimia combined. Also, people are less likely to seek out help for binge eating behaviors, even if not so frequent, because of the shame and embarrassment about the behavior.

In addition to the shame that surrounds this diagnosis is a lack of understanding about the condition. Learning more about this disorder and sharing information can help dispel some of the myths like the ones listed below to help people seek treatment without judgment.

Myth #1: Overeating is the same as binge eating.

Most of us will occasionally overindulge on our favorite foods. The difference between that and a binge is that those with binge eating disorder overindulge often as a result of compulsivity, rather than our occasional choice to overindulge. The large amount of food that can be consumed during the binge is very different than having a second serving of your favorite dessert. There is a loss of control associated with the binge that overeating lacks.

Myth #2: Weight loss and dieting cures binge eating disorder.

Unfortunately, dieting is often the trigger to a binge. Binge eating can be a vicious cycle of restriction/deprivation and food obsession and binging. When we hyper-focus on trying to cut out a certain food group, particular trigger food, or even on imagining how a certain food will taste, it creates additional stress. If I tell you not to think of a red car, the first thing you’re going to think about is a red car. This is over simplifying it quite a bit, but a more flexible and wider range of food choices as well as becoming reacquainted with your hunger cues is part of what helps to heal this disorder.

Myth #3: I just need more discipline/willpower.

Asking someone with binge eating disorder to just use more willpower would be just as effective as asking someone with a substance abuse issue to not be compulsive in the throes of their pain. Furthermore, we cannot abstain from food completely! Our relationship with food is one of the oldest relationships we have; we’ve been eating since before we were born.

There are many deep and painful feelings that need to be processed in order to recover from binge eating disorder. In therapy, we look at the binges as a representation or a symptom of unmet needs, unprocessed grief, and many other complicated, shameful emotions. Instead of us asking why we don’t have more willpower, we should perhaps ask what are we hungry for? What emotions are we trying to “stuff “down? To start your recovery journey from binge eating disorder, contact West Therapy Group today. In a free consultation, one of our therapists will speak with you about treatment options to address healing your relationship with food and your body.