Binge Eating and its Symptoms

Eating is undoubtedly necessary in order to survive. The body depends on eating for energy requirements. It is necessary for growth and development. But health professionals from various eating disorder treatment centers warn that too much food intake can be harmful to the system.

Binge eating which is also known as compulsive overeating disorder, is an eating disorder characterized by frequent consumption of unusually large amounts of food. Individuals suffering from this disease have a strong compulsion to food. They also have a hard time resisting the urge to eat.

Whether one agrees with it or not, binge eating is just as threatening as anorexia and bulimia. This disorder also requires immediate eating disorder treatment and in order for this to be possible, it is but necessary that family members be informed and is aware of the signs and symptoms of this disease. Eating disorder information will help provide much needed intervention and treatment and will also reduce further damage in the individual suffering this disorder.

Not all those who have binge eating disorders exhibit obvious signs and symptoms of the disease. Some binge eaters may be overweight or obese while others may be of normal weight. And most obese are not binge eaters as well.

However, eating disorder information says is those individuals who have binge eating disorders too often have numerous behavioral and emotional signs and symptoms of the disease. These symptoms include eating large amounts of food in between binge episodes, eating even when full, frequently dieting without weight loss, feeling that your eating behavior is out of control, depression and anxiety.

Eating Disorder Treatment

Many girls were competing to be skinny in my high school. I really began to take notice my senior year when there seemed to be an influx in eating disorders. You could see 110 lb girls binge eating in the cafeteria, bringing back two ice creams, plates of pasta, cookies, and fried foods back to their lunch table. While these girls clearly suffered from some form of bulimia other girls would just sit with nothing at all at their plate minus a bowl of plane iceberg lettuce. The school tried to intervene with certain cases became too extreme by bringing in a health nutritionist and an advisor on eating disorder treatments specifically anorexia treatment. The advisor spoke to my class about how girls from high socioeconomic class, attending prestigious private schools, were most at risk for developing eating disorders. The eating disorder specialist drew a bell curve on the whiteboard and pointed to the right side stating, that individuals with eating disorders are deviants and develop deviant behavior such as becoming more isolated, spending less time with friends especially when food is around, irritable, and moody. She explained that chemical imbalances from not receiving the minimum daily food intake resulted in an individual have mood swings, headaches, and fainting spells. Following that year three girls that I am aware of, have received eating disorder treatment from my class.