Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is the most prevalent but the least well understood and publicised of all eating disorders. It is estimated that between 1 per cent and 3 per cent of the population may be affected. Individuals with binge eating disorder tend to be older than those with anorexia or bulimia when they seek treatment. Among those undergoing treatment for obesity, it is believed that as many as 30 per cent may have binge eating disorder.

What is defined as a binge? We all over-eat and comfort eat, particularly at particular times of the year such as Christmas. Binge eating means eating an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar circumstances.

The key difference between a pattern of binge eating and over-indulgence is the regularity with which the binges take place. The binges are also likely to be triggered by difficult feelings, such as feeling down or anxious. Overall, the feeling towards food is an overwhelming loss of control over behaviour towards food and intense guilt about bingeing.

Both people with bulimia and binge eating disorder binge on a regular basis, feel their eating is out of control and experience overwhelming feelings of guilt about their behaviour. People with bulimia compensate for excessive food intake by ‘purging’ – vomiting, misuse of laxatives and over-exercise. People with binge eating disorder do not compensate and over time become very overweight or obese.

How is binge eating disorder treated?

The good news for people with binge eating disorder is that like bulimia, there are established, effective treatments which work well. Treatment almost always takes place on an outpatient basis; only in rare cases, where there are serious physical complications, is it necessary for an individual to be admitted for inpatient treatment.

Outpatient treatment involves going to see a specialist once or twice a week for therapy sessions lasting one hour or ninety minutes. The specialist may be a consultant psychiatrist or a psychologist.

Cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven to be very effective in the treatment of eating disorders and there is form of CBT which has been specifically developed for the treatment of eating disorders, called CBT-E. At Newbridge House we also use an approach called Mindfulness-Based CBT-E which is very helpful in the treatment of bulimia and Motivational Enhancement Therapy which helps people to consider the benefits of overcoming an eating disorder and harnessing that motivation within their treatment programme. As a specialist centre for the treatment of eating disorders, we offer outpatients specialist support from our dietetic service run by a dietitian specialising in the treatment of eating disorders.