Eating Disorder - Binge Eating

Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder in which the sufferer consumes food, unusually large amounts of food, on a regular basis in a brief period of time, hungry or not and continues to eat until they feel rather uncomfortable. These bouts are usually followed by feelings of guilt. Here the sufferer does not induce purging after bingeing unlike in the case of bulimia. This eating disorder is a problem, which affects both men and women but it is more common in women. This unhealthy habit of overeating tends to develop during childhood.

What are the possible causes of binge eating disorder?

It is still difficult to pin point the exact cause or causes of this disorder. However, the following may be some of the causes of this eating disorder:

Depression - No one actually knows for sure if depression is a cause or an effect of binge eating disorder but it has been noted that about fifty percent of the individuals with this disorder have a history of depression or are depressed. This depression may be even totally unrelated.

Dieting - It is still not clear if dieting is a cause of binge eating. Here too, about fifty percent of the sufferers of binge eating disorder had episodes of bingeing before they started to diet. Dieting may actually worsen their condition.

Genetics - Many researchers have come to the conclusion that genes may in some way be involved as it was found that many members of the same family suffered from this disorder.

Unable to cope - Studies have shown that some individuals who cannot handle their emotions like sadness, anger, stress etc and even people who have a low self esteem often turn to binge eating in order to cope better. They binge eat in order to hide from these various emotions.

Some of the signs and symptoms of binge eating disorder are:

. They gain weight and subsequently become obese,
. They eat late at night or when not hungry,
. They suffer from fluctuations in weight,
. They consume food until they feel uncomfortably full,
. They suffer from an anxious and depressed mood,
. They eat within any two hour period a quantity of food bigger than a non sufferer would eat in the same period of time and feeling a lack of control over the whole episode,
. They have low self-esteem,
. They have no desire for sex,
. Their food is eaten rapidly without chewing,
. They hide food,
. They hoard food,
. They try out various diets,
. They believe that life will be much better if they lose weight,
. If there is a disappointment in their life or they feel stressed or unhappy they try to cope with the various situations by consuming food,
. They avoid social function in which food will be present,
. They eat food when not hungry,
. They feel ashamed and guilty about their over their overeating,
. They eat alone or in secret as they feel embarrassed as to the enormous quantity they consume,
. They tend to have suicidal thoughts,

Some of the complications that can arise as a result of binge eating are:

High blood pressure, depression, anxiety, mood swings, shortness of breath, irregular periods, cancers, type 2 diabetes, upper respiratory problems, high cholesterol levels, stress, deterioration of bones, stroke, skin problems, suicidal tendencies, pregnancy complications, insomnia, gall bladder, liver and kidney disease, arthritis, decrease in mobility, obesity, heart disease, cardiac arrest and death.

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