Binge eating disorder
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Everyone occasionally overeats and feels uncomfortably full afterwards, but this is not the same as binge eating. The symptoms of binge eating disorder are:
1. Consuming large amounts of food over a two-hour period at least twice a week for six months;
2. The amounts eaten are very excessive compared to what a normal person would consume;
3. You feel guilty, embarrassed and distressed afterwards;
4. You feel out-of-control about your eating binges;
5. You eat more rapidly than normal;
6. You eat alone during a binge because you are ashamed of it;
7. You are not physically hungry but you binge anyway,
8. You do not compensate for your binge eating by taking laxatives, vomiting, exercising, or otherwise purging yourself of unneeded calories.
The dangers of binge eating are low self-esteem, depression, and physical problems due to being overweight or obese, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, difficulties with joints, and increased risk for cancer and arthritis. Binge eating disorder is the most common kind of disordered eating. A Harvard University survey estimated that 3.5% of women and 2% of men suffer from it.
Some recent research indicates that there may be a genetic basis for binge eating disorder. Treatments can include cognitive behavioral or dialectical behavioral therapy and working with a professional nutritionist or trainer. Some medications, such as appetite suppressants, anti-seizure drugs, and antidepressants can be helpful. Many people with the disorder benefit from joining a support group of others with the same problem either in their local communities or online.
A combination of binge-eating disorder plus bulimia can be more dangerous to health and more difficult to treat, and the person may require residential treatment.
In the last edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 1994, the American Psychiatric Association recognized only three kinds of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorders non-specified. In 2000, this edition was revised to include binge-eating disorder. The next edition, due in 2013, will probably include even more kinds of eating disorders, such as only eating certain kinds of food, night eating syndrome, etc.
