Binge Eating Disorder

Symptoms

If you have binge eating disorder, you may:

• Eat a large amount of food in a short period of time (less than 2 hours) on a regular basis.
• Eat when you're not hungry.
• Feel like you can't stop eating.
• Eat faster than usual when you binge eat.
• Eat so much that you feel painfully full.
• Feel unhappy, upset, guilty, or depressed after you binge eat.
• Eat alone because you're embarrassed about how much you eat.

Even if you don't have all these symptoms, having a few can be a sign of a condition that needs treatment. It's important to get help if you or someone you know has any of these symptoms.

What Happens

When you have binge eating disorder, you eat large amounts of food in a short time. You may feel out of control and eat so much that it hurts.

Frequent binge eating can cause you to gain a large amount of weight. This can happen even if you try to restrict your food intake between binges. People with binge eating disorder may try to follow strict diets. But dieting does not stop binge eating in the long term and might actually make the condition worse.

You might feel so discouraged at times that you stop trying to control your eating disorder. One binge might merge into the next, with no period of normal eating in between.

In most cases, you will need treatment to get better. If you have binge eating disorder, treatment may prevent health problems and improve the quality of your life.

Treatment Overview

Treatment for binge eating disorder includes counseling and medicine. You may need treatment for a long time to fully recover.

The goals of treatment are to help you:

• Reduce your number of eating binges.
• Develop healthy eating and exercise habits.
• Develop a healthy view of yourself and your body.

You also may need treatment for other conditions that often occur with binge eating disorder. These can include bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, obesity, or other conditions that may occur when a person is at a higher weight.

Sticking to your treatment plan for the long term is most likely to stop binge eating disorder. Remember it can take time to reach your goals. Talk to your doctor about what results are realistic to expect from treatment.

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Self-Care

Here are some things you can do to take care of yourself during recovery from an eating disorder.

• Try to stick to your treatment plan. Go to any counseling sessions you have. If you can't go, or if you don't think the sessions are helping, talk to your counselor about it. And take any medicines you've been prescribed exactly as directed.
• Work on healthy eating habits. Listen to what your counselor and dietitian say about healthy eating. You can work with them to make a plan to eat a variety of healthy foods.
• Learn healthy ways to deal with stress. Managing stress is important in recovery. Find what works for you. You could try things like journaling, volunteering, reading, or meditating.
• Wear clothes that fit your body now, just as it is. When you look in the mirror, try to find things you like about yourself instead of focusing on what you don't like.
• Get support from others. This might be from caring family members or friends or an eating disorders support group.
• Take it easy on yourself. Focus on your good qualities. Don't blame yourself for your disorder. And remember that recovery takes time and that you can make progress one goal at a time.

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Giving Support

If you think your child has an eating disorder:

• Talk to them. Tell your child why you're worried. Let them know you care.
• Make an appointment for you and your child to meet with a doctor or a counselor.

If you're worried about someone you know:

• Tell someone who can make a difference, like a parent, a teacher, a counselor, or a doctor. A person with an eating disorder may say that they are okay and don't need help. You can help by encouraging them to talk to someone they trust.

Supporting someone who has binge eating disorder

When someone you care about has an eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge eatingbinge eating and is in treatment, it is important that you show support. Try the following ideas.

• Show personal support.
  • Show and state how much you care.
  • Avoid the temptation to control the person.
  • Trust that they have developed their own high values, ideals, and standards.
  • Encourage self-responsibility for their actions, both successes and setbacks.
  • Offer support during times of discouragement.
• Do not urge them to eat or not eat, unless this is part of the plan for treatment.
• Avoid comparisons with other people.
• Listen to feelings.
• Do not be controlled by their behavior.
• Remember the big picture. Eating disorders happen for many different reasons. Many people who have an eating disorder come from families in which other members have eating disorders or have other conditions such as depression. This doesn't mean that a family member caused the disorder. It simply means that these conditions seem more likely to happen in that family.
• Avoid guilt and self-blame.
  • Show support. Say things such as, "I can see how hard this is for you. You're doing a good job."
  • Don't focus attention only on the person who is in treatment. Spend time with other members of your family and your friends.
  • Remind yourself that this can be a long-lasting disorder. It may take time for changes to happen.

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