Binge eating disorder is a type of addiction in which the affected person engages in periods of compulsive overeating (without the subsequent purging behavior characteristic of bulimia nervosa) by eating a large amount of caloric food in a short period of time.

It is based, fundamentally, on the appearance and maintenance of an addiction to food that usually begins in adolescence, and like all eating disorders is more frequent in women than in men.

Episodes of overeating: why do they constitute an addiction?

We understand addiction as that process in which the person feels totally dominated and enslaved by the desire to use.

It is experienced as something uncontrollable ; no matter how much the person makes use of his will power, he ends up entering a state similar to that of depersonalization, a numbing of his rational faculties and a splitting of them, generating in the individual a state of sleepwalking with a single destiny: the fridge, the place where he will satisfy the impulses produced by food addiction.

What causes binge eating disorder?

Neuroscience attributes this disorder to an imbalance in the brain’s reward centers . When you binge eat, you abnormally release certain neurotransmitters related to feelings of well-being (dopamine and serotonin), which causes you to become “hooked” on certain foods, especially caloric foods high in sugar, flour, and salt.

This would explain the maintenance of the behavior but… what is the trigger? Is it a disorder in itself… or is it a symptom, a clue, a pathological correction of a more hidden and unknown process? What kind of gaps is the person trying to fill by stuffing himself to the extreme? Is he “swallowing” his own emotions in the face of the impossibility of acting out in an assertive way?

Many hypotheses can be generated in this regard, but as always happens in psychotherapy, it is necessary to consider case by case and person by person to know the specific causes that lead to complusive overeating.

What are the consequences of compulsive eating?

Once the ritual of the food addiction-driven binge has been carried out, it is likely that the person will generate feelings of guilt and shame , as well as regret for not having been able to take charge of the situation.

In the long run, the person will develop what is known in psychology as expectations of uncontrollability ; as a result of a series of failures, the belief that there is no contingency between the efforts made and the results obtained will appear in the person, either consciously or unconsciously. In spite of the different strategies used, he ends up time and time again performing the action that he tries so hard to avoid.

The expectation of uncontrollability

The expectation of uncontrollability leads the person to move from a state of frustration and anger to a state of hopelessness, of passivity, believing that nothing can be done to change the situation (see Seligman’s theory of helplessness). This can generate dysthymic or depressive states, or crystallize already existing disorders, since binge eating disorder presents a high comorbidity with other psychological disorders such as depression, mood disorders or unrealization.

In addition to the psychological consequences, the person, by not being well fed, will develop other symptoms related to various areas of the body, such as overweight, obesity, diabetes, chronic fatigue or sleep disorders.

Self-esteem will also clearly be affected, as feelings of self-efficacy will diminish after each uncontrolled binge. Because of food addiction, the person may feel weak, powerless and invalid , and generate a whole series of negative thoughts towards themselves that will only make the problem chronic.

How to combat food addiction?

The main challenge in overcoming this and any other type of disorder is for the person to re-believe in himself and learn different behavioral dynamics than those that tie him to an unhealthy lifestyle.

It is essential that you realize that the uncontrollability you feel is just an illusion , that you are in full command of your decisions, although you lack the right tools to do so.

Therefore, the accompaniment of a well-trained professional who acts on two levels is highly recommended. On the one hand, work must be done on the compulsive symptoms to correct and eradicate them, and on the other the causes of this behaviour must be investigated to cut off the roots of the initial pathology .

Seeing a specialist is essential

Those who feel identified with the symptoms described should not forget that vulnerability is a temporary state, never a descriptive characteristic of the personality.

That is why it is necessary to emphasize the fact that anyone has the ability to tackle the problem by immediately going to a qualified specialist with whom to tackle the fight against food addiction. In this way one can begin to make the right decisions that lead to the improvement of one’s own well-being.

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