Compulsive Overeating (Binge Eating)
Compulsive overeating is characterized by an addiction to food. If you are suffering from compulsive overeating disorder you might engage in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binging, and at those time you might feel completely out of control. Often times you might eat more quickly than is normal, and continue to eat even past the point of being uncomfortably full. Afterward you may feel intense guilt feelings and depression. Additionally, at times, you might find that you eat when you are not hungry, spend excessive amounts of time and thought devoted to food, and secretly plan or fantasize about eating alone. Compulsive overeating almost always leads to weight gain and obesity, but not everyone who is obese is also a compulsive overeater.
Often times compulsive overeaters can also engage in grazing behavior, during which they return to pick at food over and over throughout the day, in addition to binging. This results in a large overall number of calories consumed even if the quantities eaten at any one time may be small.
Left untreated, compulsive overeating can lead to serious medical conditions including high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and clinical depression. Additional long-term side effects of the condition also include kidney disease, arthritis, bone deterioration and stroke.
In common with other eating disorders, there is a significant emotional element to compulsive overeating. Compulsive overeaters use food as self-medication to cope with overwhelming emotions of shame and depression. If this sounds like something you do, this self-medication may not only provide you emotional comfort of the act of eating, but may have the physiological effect of making the you actually feel "drugged," sluggish, sleepy, and focused on nothing but the sensation of fullness. This is especially the case when large amounts of sugar and simple carbohydrates are consumed. Sadly this leads to other things and you may feel guilty that you are "not good enough" and feel ashamed of your increasing weight.
Signs of compulsive overeating
- Binge eating, or eating uncontrollably even when not physically hungry
- Eating much more rapidly than normal
- Eating alone due to shame and embarrassment
- Feelings of guilt due to overeating
- Preoccupation with body weight
- Depression or mood swings
- Awareness that eating patterns are abnormal
- History of weight fluctuations
- Withdrawal from activities because of embarrassment about weight
- History of many different unsuccessful diets
- Eating little in public, but maintaining a high body weight
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» Anorexia
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