Binge Eating: Psychological Factors, Symptoms and Treatment

Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder among men and women. This book centres on binge eating, which consists of episodes of uncontrollable overeating, followed by compensatory behaviour (ie: purging, fasting, heavy exercising). People who suffer from this disease often try to hide their binge-eating episodes from others, and often feel ashamed or depressed about their overeating. Many factors may contribute to binge-eating, such as dissociation, which may undermine an individual's body image, and impulsivity. This book focuses on such factors as well as the frequency with which such behaviours occur in multi-ethnic populations, and the differences in frequency rates as a function of gender and identity. The differences in binge eating and bulimia nervosa behaviours are also explained, as well as the theory that binging on some palatable foods, such as sugar, can result in addictive-like behaviour. The association between emotional abuse in childhood and future binge eating episodes are explained as well as the prevalence of BE episodes in overweight or obese children or adolescents. The effectiveness of certain treatments for binge-eating are described, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and combined treatment.