A Guide to Eating Disorders

Binge Eating Disorder

The definition of BED, or Binge Eating Disorder is

an emotional eating disorder where an individual eats an excessive amount of food in a short period of time, and often feels no control during these episodes. It has a lot of relation with Bulimia, besides the purging, though an individual will still often feel guilt or regret.

A lot of people describe it as a simple compulsion, but Binge Eating Disorder is a mental illness and often overlooked.

Just to be clear, almost everybody overeats a little from time to time. However, with BED, the overeating is uncontrollable and fairly regular. An individual will eat past when they feel full, and will rarely register tastes of food.

~~~

Often, Binge Eating Disorder will start to develop either in the late adolescent years, or in early adulthood. Most of the time people diagnosed with BED will be either overweight or obese, given that they will not make regular attempts to 'get rid of' the food. (Edit: there are still people that weigh an average weight and have BED)

There are very many health concerns relating to obesity, most of which could affect someone who suffers from BED.

When a person is overwhelmed, there will be a bigger concern that they might start eating- and won't stop for a while- because the binges are often done "blindly", or without psychological restrain.

BED and depression are almost always diagnosed together, as the psychological burden of wanting to eat often, but not being able to stop is very damaging and guilt-inducing.

If you're writing about BED, it's best to do so research that is altered to your vision, but let me know if you have any questions.