Binge eating disorder is a type of addiction in which the affected person has periods of compulsive overeating of food (without the subsequent purgative behavior characteristic of bulimia nervosa) eating a large amount of caloric foods in a short period of time.
It is based, fundamentally, on the appearance and maintenance of a food addiction that usually begins in adolescence, and like all eating disorders, it is more common in women than in men.
Episodes of overeating: why do they constitute an addiction?
We understand addiction as that process in which the person feels totally dominated and enslaved by the desire to consume.
It is experienced as something uncontrollable ; No matter how much the person uses his willpower, he ends up entering a state similar to that of depersonalization, a numbing of his rational faculties and a splitting of them, generating in the individual a state of sleepwalking with a single destiny: the refrigerator, the place where you will satisfy the impulses produced by food addiction.
What causes binge eating disorder?
Neuroscience attributes this disorder to an imbalance in the brain’s reward centers. When eating compulsively, the person abnormally releases certain neurotransmitters related to the feeling of well-being (dopamine and serotonin), which causes them to end up “hooked” on certain foods, especially caloric foods with high sugar, flour and salt content.
This would explain the maintenance of the behavior but… what is the trigger? Is it a disorder in itself… or is it a symptom, a clue, a pathological correction of a more hidden and unknown process? What kind of voids is the person trying to fill by gorging himself to the extreme? Are you “swallowing” your own emotions due to the impossibility of expressing them assertively?
Many hypotheses can be generated in this regard, but as always happens in psychotherapy, You have to consider case by case and person by person to know the specific causes that lead to compulsive overeating.
What consequences does compulsive eating have?
Once the ritual of binge eating driven by food addiction is carried out, the person is likely to generate feelings of guilt and shame as well as regret for not having been able to take charge of the situation.
In the long run, the person will develop what is known in psychology as expectations of uncontrollability; As a result of a series of failures, the person will consciously or unconsciously believe that there is no contingency between the efforts he makes and the results he obtains. Despite the different strategies used, he ends up again and again carrying out the action that he tries so hard to avoid.
The expectation of uncontrollability
The expectation of uncontrollability leads the person to go from a state of frustration and anger to a state of hopelessness, of passivity, believing that there is nothing they can do to change the situation (see Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness). This can generate dysthymic or depressive states, or crystallize already existing disorders, since binge eating disorder has a high comorbidity with other psychological disorders such as depression, mood disorders or derealization.
In addition to the psychological consequences, the person, not being well nourished, will develop other symptoms related to various areas of the body, such as overweight, obesity, diabetes, chronic fatigue or sleep disorders.
Self-esteem will also clearly be affected, as feelings of self-efficacy will decrease after each uncontrolled binge. Because of food addiction, the person may feel weak, helpless and invalid and generate a whole series of negative thoughts towards herself that will only make the problem chronic.
How to combat food addiction?
The main challenge to overcome this and any other type of disorder is for the person to believe in themselves again and learn behavioral dynamics different from those that tie them to an unhealthy lifestyle.
It is imperative that you realize that the uncontrollability you feel is just an illusion. who is fully empowered to make decisions, although he lacks the appropriate tools to do so.
Therefore, the support of a well-trained professional who acts in two aspects is highly recommended. On the one hand, we must work on the compulsive symptoms to correct and eradicate them, and on the other The causes of said behavior must be investigated to nip the initial pathology in the bud.
Going to a specialist is essential
Those people who identify with the symptoms described should not forget that vulnerability is a temporary state, never a descriptive characteristic of personality.
That’s why We must emphasize the fact that anyone has the ability to tackle the problem by immediately going to a qualified specialist with whom you can face the fight against food addiction. In this way you can begin to make the appropriate decisions that lead to improving your own well-being.
