Mental & Emotional Health

Compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder are closely related, however different they may be.

Definitions include: “Compulsive overeating is characterised by an addiction to food. An individual suffering from compulsive overeating disorder engages in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binging, during which they may feel frenzied or out of control. They will eat much more quickly than is normal, and continue to eat even past the point of being uncomfortably full.� While binge eating disorder is defined as “A condition that is characterized by recurrent episodes of excessive eating but, unlike bulimia nervosa, no extreme weight control behaviors (purging, laxatives, fasting) are present; persons with the disorder have chaotic eating patterns and frequently overeat as well as binge.�

The Renfrew Center describes the symptoms and complications of compulsive overeating.

“Binge eating can lead to severe medical problems including high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and depression.”

There are many warning signs which indicate that someone may be suffering from binge eating disorder. A person with binge eating disorder may exhibit one, all, or any combination of these warning signs. Becoming aware of these warning signs is the first step in helping someone suffering from binge eating.

Mirror Mirror writes a bit about the background of compulive overeating and binge eating disorder as well.
“Compulsive overeating usually starts in early childhood when eating patterns are formed. Most people who become compulsive eaters are people who never learned the proper way to deal with stressful situations and used food instead as a way of coping. Fat can also serve as a protective function for them, especially in people that have been victims of sexual abuse. They sometimes feel that being overweight will keep others at a distance and make them less attractive. Unlike anorexia and bulimia, there is a high proportion of male overeaters.”

Common warning signs:
* Binge eating
* Fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily
* Depression
* Self-deprecating thoughts following binges
* Withdrawing from activities because of embarrassment about weight
* Going on many different diets
* Eating little in public, while maintaining a high weight
* Believing they will be a better person when thin
* Feelings about self based on weight
* Social and professional failures attributed to weight
* Feeling tormented by eating habits
* Weight is focus of life

There are many physical and medical complications as well, none of which are pleasant.
*Weight gain
* Hypertension or fatigue
* Heart ailments
* Mobility problems
* Diabetes
* Arthritis
* Sciatica
* Varicose veins
* Hiatal hernia
* Embolism
* Sleep depravation
* Toxemia during pregnancy
* High blood pressure
* Shortness of breath
* High Cholesterol levels
* Cardiac arrest and death

Overeaters Anonymous offers a 12-step recovery program for those interested in following up on my post here.