Binge Eating Info for People in Chicago
By: John Linger
As a Chicago therapist, I have seen clients who, at times, have expressed concern about their tendency to use food as a coping mechanism when they’re feeling anxious or stressed. And, I’m guessing that you, just like me, have indulged in a treat or two to find comfort in some of life’s difficult moments.
Often, I hear folks use the word “binge” to describe some of these instances. For example, “I just went on a binge frenzy and ate, like, the whole pizza” or “I binged on all the ice cream in my freezer last night.”
Let’s pause for moment and consider this word, “binge.” While binge drinking is now a commonly recognized problem, bingeing can, of course, be an “unrestrained and often excessive indulgence” in any substance or behavior, including food.
Sometimes a binge just that: a binge – nothing more than an isolated instance in which you ended up eating far more than you intended. And, these moments perhaps have occurred more than once. But there may be little negative impact on your life, aside from a slight stomach ache afterwards.
Nonetheless, repetitive and patterned binge eating can be much more concerning than an extra piece of cake you ate just because it happened to be there. Consequently, it’s important for us to recognize the difference between occasional, benign overeating and truly problematic binge eating.
It is estimated that just over 30 million people in the US suffer from an eating disorder – and Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is one that is thought to affect nearly 3% of all American adults at some point in their lifetime.
While the diagnostic criteria for BED requires a set frequency of binge eating (once per week for three months), any pattern of binge eating episodes may have a lasting negative impact on a person’s life.
So, how exactly is binge eating defined? And what might an episode of binge eating look like?
Consider these three elements, addressed in Overcoming Binge Eating by Dr. Christopher Fairburn:
Characteristics of Binges
Binges can look a lot of different ways. They can happen at different times and can occur in different places. But, rather consistently, binges usually happen quickly and in secret. The person who is bingeing consumes what they perceive to be an extremely large amount of food that is atypical for them (usually food that they also perceive as bad or unhealthy for them) in a hurried manner.
Often, binges do not allow for the enjoyment of tasting or fully chewing food. Instead, as much food as possible is consumed as quickly as possible, and this may result in feeling painfully full. And, because shame is also associated with bingeing (see below) people often intentionally try to binge in places where they are hidden from others (i.e. the bathroom or bedroom) even if it means planning binges ahead of time to avoid being seen.
Emotions
There is a strong emotional component to binge eating, and, most consistently, this may be a response to the eating itself. At first, the binge can feel pleasurable (as eating food typically does). However, those feelings often quickly subside and are replaced by feelings of shame and disgust about the bingeing itself. These latter emotions are important to attend to as they can become overwhelming and result in attempts to compensate for the bingeing.
Agitation & Loss of Control
People often find themselves rather agitated when they are bingeing and report feeling like the desire to binge is an uncontrollable force that consumes their thoughts and bodies (although this varies greatly from person to person). The powerful drive to binge can, sometimes, cause people to experience a feeling of desperation. This can lead to behaviors which the person usually wouldn’t engage in, such as grossly overspending on a grocery run or consuming others’ discarded food.
It’s important to note that bingeing can look drastically different from one person to the next. But, understanding the difference between bingeing and the occasional over-indulgence can be helpful in creating a happier, healthier life.
