How Does The Coronavirus Pandemic Influence Binge Eating Disorder?
Beyond the COVID-19 disease, the context of the coronavirus pandemic has led to the appearance of a whole series of diverse pathologies, some very different from each other. In fact, many of them do not affect specific organs or cellular tissues, but are psychological in nature.
In this sense, several investigations show, for example, that psychological sequelae are relatively frequent in those who have suffered COVID-19: they could be present in more or less half of the cases.
However, one of the characteristics of the pandemic is that it is not necessary to have been in contact with the virus to experience mental health problems: the context of fear of contagion, health restrictions and economic crisis is, by itself, enough to have problems that trigger psychological and psychiatric disorders. In this article we will focus, specifically, on the relationship between binge eating disorder and the coronavirus pandemic.
Let’s start with the most important thing: what exactly is binge eating disorder? It is a disease that is part of the Eating Disorders and that, as its name indicates, is characterized by episodes of uncontrolled binge eating, which do not correspond to the real hunger that the person experiences.
Thus, those who develop binge eating disorder develop a dynamic in which at certain times they feel the need to immediately eat relatively large quantities of food, something linked to what is known as emotional hunger: the person “learns” to mitigate their discomfort through of the sensations that the act of eating produces, even though your body does not need those foods and in fact it generates a major health problem to the problem that makes you feel bad at that moment.
On the other hand, this disorder is not as famous as anorexia and bulimia, pathologies that have been receiving media attention for years and that tend to attract the focus of all mental health awareness campaigns, which complicates its prevention. and prompt treatment when it appears: many times, people who suffer from it take a long time to identify it as a problem, and sometimes they assume that it is part of their habits or “manias.” This may be because Eating Disorders are associated with excessive concern about controlling what one eats, and this pathology seems to go against that logic.
However, if we examine it carefully, we will realize that Binge eating disorder has a lot to do with bulimia although in this case purging behaviors such as induced vomiting are not carried out (which avoids major damage to the skin of the hands and the upper tract of the digestive system, but at the same time increases the chances of being overweight, while the risk of malnutrition remains).
The relationship between the pandemic and binge eating disorder
Mental health problems cannot be understood without the economic, social and cultural context in which they are produced. They are not simple diseases that appear due to an abnormality in a gene, in an organ or in a cellular tissue due to a pathogenic agent.
In fact, this is also partly true with certain medical pathologies such as COVID-19 (in which the study of behavioral patterns is very important to understand its contagion), but it is even more true when we talk about psychological disorders, because They are greatly influenced by the way in which people experience social relationships, the beliefs they internalize from the society in which they live, the lifestyle they adopt for fun or to promote their personal development, etc.
In this sense, the coronavirus pandemic has given rise to a context in which disorders such as binge eating disorder can appear relatively easily. Thus, in times of coronavirus, elements such as stress and anxiety, generated by the anomalous nature of what is happening worldwide and the dangers it entails both for the health and for the social and financial situation of people; uncertainty due to the lack of information about what will happen in the coming months and weeks; the boredom generated by the lack of activities to do if you can barely go outside or there are many stores and businesses closed; and lack of support and supervision from family and loved ones (in the case of those who have spent a long period in quarantine or simply unable or unwilling to meet with others due to fear of contagion or health restrictions applied to the population). in general).
This combination of sources of stress and fear, social isolation and disruption of habits and routines to which people had become accustomed makes it relatively easy to misuse the resources available at home, fall into dynamics of repetitive behaviors, look for immediate sources of well-being that can end up leading to a food addiction, etc.
Furthermore, we must not forget that the pandemic fosters panic situations in which waves of fear of running out of certain types of food spread, which makes it easier for people to spread the “fear” of having to quickly go to buy large quantities of food to store in the pantry. This high availability of food that can occur in some homes increases its visibility, which makes it easier to think about food when facing certain types of stress or fear generated by the pandemic.
If you are going through a difficult stage in your life and are looking for professional psychological help or treatment to overcome certain disorders that damage your mental health, contact us.
In CITA Clinics We have a team of professionals from both the field of psychotherapy and medicine, and we have a lot of experience treating problems such as eating disorders or addictions.
We stand out for offering the possibility of both outpatient treatment with support for patients and families and admission treatment in our fully equipped residential module located in a privileged space, surrounded by nature and full of rooms for individual or directed activities.
