What Are The Dangers Of Binge Eating
What is Binge Eating
Who knew the dangers of binge eating could be so bad? Binge eating is not just a habit. There is an actual disease called “binge eating disorder”. By definition is when you eat abnormally large amounts of food with an inability to stop eating when your body is technically full. This is a dangerous, life threatening condition, but help is available and recover is possible.
What if I just overeat?
While you can over eat every once in awhile, binge eaters consistently eat too much but do not use laxatives or purge to get rid of the food.
Many people who have binge eating disorder have weight problems but some are of a normal weight.
What are signs and symptoms of having binge eating disorder
• Having out of control eating behaviors
• Consuming huge amounts of food over a short period of time.
• Snacking even when you aren’t hungry.
• Rapidly eating when you binge eat.
• Eating in secret or when you are alone.
• Feeling ashamed, guilty, or depressed about your eating behavior.
• Always going on a diet, usually without success.
Risk Factors for Binge Eating
Psychological problems
Most people who have this problem have a negative self-image and don’t feel positive about their accomplishments and skills. You can overeat because you are bored, stressed out, or have a poor image of your body. The psychiatric disorders most commonly linked to binge eating problems include things like bipolar disorder, depressive symptoms, anxiety disorders, and illicit drug use.
Family history
If you have a first-degree relative such as a sibling or a parent who suffer from binge eating difficulties, you might be at an increased risk yourself. It may mean that there are some hereditary factors that relate to developing this type of eating disorder.
Over dieting
If you have a long history of dieting as far back as childhood. This may have been a way of compensating for times in which you were otherwise overeating.
Age
You can have binge eating disorder at any age. Most people have an onset of the disorder in their teens or in their early twenties.
The Dangers of Binge Eating
Binge eating can cause you both physical and psychological problems. Some of the major dangers of binge eating include the following:
• Feeling terrible about yourself
• Feeling bad about how your life is going
• Having problems functioning in your personal life, in social situations, or in the work environment.
• Having a poor quality of life.
• Being socially isolated from others.
• Suffering from obesity or being overweight.
• Having medical problems as a result of being obese, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis of the joints, gastroesophageal reflux disease (also called GERD), and breathing problems such as sleep apnea.
How do you know if it’s a problem?
In order to make the diagnosis of binge eating disorder, you may need to see a psychological professional for a full evaluation of your eating behaviors. Tests to evaluate the possibility that the binge eating has already affected your health. This includes testing for things like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol, gastroesophageal disorder, and sleep apnea disorder.
The doctor may do a complete physical examination, take blood or urine tests, and perhaps refer you to a center for sleep disorders for a consultation.
What is part of the diagnosis
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the following things must be in place in order to make the diagnosis of binge eating disorder:
• Lack of control about eating, including how much you eat and whether or not you can actually stop eating.
• Recurrent attacks of overeating a large amount of food over a short period of time.
• Having these factors related to eating: eating to the point where you feel extremely full, eating very quickly, eating alone because you are embarrassed about your eating, or feeling depressed, guilty or disgusted about your eating behaviors.
• Being concerned about your eating habits.
• Engaging in binge eating at least once weekly for a period of three months or more.
• Eating that is unassociated with purging, laxative abuse, or excessive exercise.
Binge eating can be dangerous. It affects your overall health and can lead to mental problems that only perpetuate the eating problem.
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