Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder is a condition whereby the sufferer often overeats to an extreme. This excessive indulgence in food is not in response to hunger but to a compulsion to eat.
Technically speaking, binge eating disorder is a sub type of Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
Binge Eating
It is quite common for most people to overeat every now and again, but for a person with binge eating disorder, it is a way of life. They have regular bouts of excessive eating, usually involving junk food and sometimes at strange times (such as late at night). The behaviour is often carried out in secret with hidden supplies of food.
During a binge eating episode the sufferer feels a loss of control over how much they are eating and will continue to eat until they are uncomfortably full - even in pain. Feelings of shame, disgust and guilt often follow a binge eating episode.
Although binge eating is an element of the eating disorder bulimia, binge eating disorder is different from bulimia because it does not involve the purging of calories after a binge by vomiting or the use of laxatives (or some other means).
Health Risks of Binge Eating Disorder
Bingeeating disorder is likely to result in the sufferer becoming overweight or obese, although this is not always the case.
Health problems that may arise include those that are associated with being overweight, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, gallbladder disease, kidney disease, fertility problems, high cholesterol and some types of cancer.
Compared with anorexia and bulimia, binge eating disorder has been accepted only recently as a serious eating disorder.