Binge Eating Disorder And Obsessiveness With Compulsivity
Binge eating disorder It is characterized, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5), by frequent episodes of eating food in quantities clearly greater than what others would eat in similar circumstances, in an approximate period of time. for two hours, with a feeling of lack of control.
These episodes are associated with eating at high speed, feeling unpleasantly satisfied, eating without feeling physically hungry, doing so while only out of embarrassment, feeling disgusted, depressed or ashamed of oneself.
This disorder is not frequently accompanied by inappropriate compensatory behaviors, as in the case of bulimia nervosa, such as self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics, fasting, or excessive exercise in an attempt to maintain control of body weight with a excessive worry.
The population that is most exposed to contracting these types of disorders is adolescents, since, being a stage of transitional development between childhood and adulthood, determining physical and psychological changes are experienced in the life of each person; Above all, it affects young women.
Although people of any age, sex, gender, racial and ethnic origin can suffer from an Eating Disorder (ED), adolescent and young women are the group that most frequently presents an ED, with biological factors (genes) being the cause. , heritability and others), early sexualization, the environment and socio-cultural elements: those that are intrinsically in our way of thinking participating in processes such as self-evaluation, without leaving aside that we are social beings, so we are influenced all the time by our environment, and what it defines as aesthetically appropriate or not, producing body image ideals in both men and women.
On the other hand, studies and my professional experience agree that The nuclear family plays a fundamental role in the construction of self-esteem and what is perceived of self-image, since the power of what we communicate to a person (both to others and to oneself) and especially to a person who is in the process of forming their identity, is highly influential in mental health.
On one occasion, a woman of approximately 27 years old told me that another person suggested that her physical appearance at that moment was not “optimal.” However, she expresses: “what that person doesn’t know is that my parents built a solid self-esteem in me.”
Although to date there are no studies that can clearly identify the causes of this type of disorders, there is no doubt The affected person has a severe condition in emotional terms and in their self-management.
Binge eating disorder and obsessiveness with compulsivity
It is curious that Binge Eating Disorder has been included in the latest and most complete version of the DSM-5 published in 2013. Could it be that this condition had not been identified before? Or that it is a disorder of the new generations?
It is true that today’s society has high levels of prevalence of anxious, depressive and stress symptoms, which are directly related to lifestyles and learning.
As to the relationship between Binge Eating Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Behavior I have been able to appreciate an interesting combination between the two, recognizing in my work experience Binge Eating Disorders, that is, a compulsivity for eating excessively at certain times, accompanied by obsessive thinking, that is, the presence of constant and persistent thoughts related with food such as: “What will my next meal be? “I need to eat something right now”…
There is a permanent organization of meals, concern about gaining weight, great difficulty in achieving a feeling of psychological satiety (the person may find their physical capacity for food intake completely exceeded and at the same time continue with difficult-to-controllable desires to eat or mental hunger). .
The interesting thing is that this symptomatological combination may appear as a defense mechanism against complex emotional experiences that may have occurred during childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood or old age, regardless of the stage of development in which a person is when it appears, preventing the person from being able to deal with the introspective work that requires processing emotional information that in some cases can be difficult and even traumatic, interfering with daily life.
