Binge Eating Disorder

Student’s name

Institutional affiliation

Binge Eating Disorder

Introduction

Binge eating disorder is a severe but treatable eating disorder where an individual has recurrent episodes of consuming large quantities of food. Individuals with binge eating disorders often consume food quickly often to the point of discomfort. Binge eating is accompanied by a feeling of shame, lack of control during binge eating, feelings of guilt and distress and not employing unhealthy compensatory measures to counter their binge eating behavior. Binge eating disorder is among the top eating disorders across the United States. The eating disorder affects nearly 2% of the global population and is associated with additional health issues to do with a diet including diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Eating and feeding disorders are not entirely about food; they are categorized as psychiatric disorders. Individuals presenting with binge eating disorder develop the condition as a way of addressing deeper issues such as depression and anxiety. This essay discusses binge eating disorder, including its clinical presentation, epidemiology, comorbidity, etiology, cultural considerations, and treatment.

Clinical Presentation

While most people presenting with binge-eating disorders are obese or overweight, even people that are of normal weight also get the disorder. Emotional and behavioral signs and symptoms of the disorder include frequently dieting without weight loss, consuming unusual portions of food within a specific period of time, for instance, two hour period, and eating when not hungry. Another presentation of the binge eating disorder is feeling as if one’s eating behavior is beyond control and eating rapidly during the eating episodes. Another symptom of binge eating is eating even when one is uncomfortable full and eating in secret or alone. Another clinical presentation of the disorder is feeling disgusted, ashamed, depressed, upset or guilty about one eating habits. Unlike people with other eating disorders such as bulimia, people presenting with binge eating disorder will not regularly compensate for extra calories through exercise, laxatives, or vomiting (Dingemans, Danner, & Parks, 2017). They may try to have normal meals, but restricting diet simply causes more binge eating.

Epidemiology

Among United States adults, binge eating disorder is the most common type of eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is more anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa combined. Binge eating disorder affects 2.8 million adults in the United States. An online survey conducted on 22, 397 adults in the United States found that from the 344 people that met DSM-5 diagnosis criteria for being eating disorder in the last 12 months found that 3.2% admitted to receiving a binge eating disorder diagnosis by a health care practitioner. Compared to other eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, the gender ratio for binge eating disorder is less skewed. The estimated gender ratio for a 12-month prevalence of binge eating disorder among United States adults is 2: 1 with 0.8% of men presenting with the condition versus 1.6% of women, while for bulimia nervosa is 5: 1 (Guerdjikova, Mori, Casuto, & McElroy, 2017). The onset of binge eating disorder is 21 years which is later than of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Among United States adults, binge eating disorder is observed across ethnic and racial groups. Prevalence rated can be compared among Latino (2.1%), White (1.4%), African Americans (1.5%), and 1.2 (%).

Comorbidity

Various negative health issues are linked with binge eating disorder, including diabetes, obesity, pain (headaches and musculoskeletal) sleep disturbances, menstrual irregularities, gastrointestinal, shortness of breath, menstrual irregularities, hypertension, diabetes, functional health impairments and low-health quality of life. Some medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome are associated with obesity. While fewer than people presenting with binge eating disorders are obese, medical comorbidities also occur in those who are nonobese/normal body mass index (BMI) including heightened risk and pain of metabolic syndrome. Pain issues linked with binge eating disorder include low back pain, neck and shoulder pain and chronic muscular pain. Additionally, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia have also been categorized as medical comorbidities for binge eating disorders.

Etiology

Binge eating disorder has numerous causes. Genetics is one of the common causes of binge eating disorders. People presenting with the disorder tend to have increased sensitivity to dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical found in the rain that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and reward. Strong evidence exists to suggest that the binge eating disorder is inherited. Gender is also another determining factor for binge eating disorder, as it is more common among women than men. In the United States 3.6% of women get the condition at one point of their life compared to 2.0% of men. Emotional trauma is also another cause for binge eating disorder. People presenting with the condition have gone through stressful life events such as separation, abuse, death, or a car accident. Child bullying as a result of body weight also contributed to the condition. Brain changes also contribute to binge eating as well as other psychological conditions such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Cultural Considerations

Eating disorders most often occur in cultures that are industrialized for instance, where there is an emphasis on looking, creating an unrealistic image of a person. Family dynamics and attitudes tend to contribute to risk of teenagers and adults to develop binge eating disorders. The risk of developing eating disorder is her in families that place emphasis on high achievement, and emphasize on perfectionism. Families that have difficulties discussing and coping with negative feelings of anger and sadness also push people into binge eating. Another culture that can push people into binge eating is the constant worry of being socially accepted. Moreover, over-protectiveness and being too much involved in the adult’s life can also trigger a binge eating disorder.

Treatment

There are numerous forms of treatment for binge eating disorder. Treatment addresses feelings of shame and poor self-image as they are linked with the condition. Psychotherapy is one of the common treatment options for the binge eating disorder where individual or groups sessions are employed to help patients overcome unhealthy eating habits. The three examples of psychotherapy include cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and dialectical therapy. Medications are also a form of treatment for binge eating disorder. Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate was the first medication to be approved by FDA used to treat severe to moderate binge-eating disorder among adults. The side effects of the drug include insomnia, dry mouth but even more serious effects tend to take place. Another common form of medication used to treat binge eating disorder is antidepressants. Although it remains unclear how antidepressants curtail binge eating, it has a lot to do with their effect on specific brain chemicals.

Conclusion

In closing, binge eating disorder is a common eating and feeding disorder which affects a person’s health seriously if left untreated. Binge eating disorder is a condition characterized by uncontrolled and repeated episodes of consuming large amounts of food. It is accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame. Binge eating disorder has negative effects on a person’s self-esteem, body weight, mental health and overall health. Fortunately, there are effective treatment options for binge eating disorder, including psychotherapy and antidepressants. To determine whether one has a binge eating disorder, one must seek consultation from a qualified medical professional.

References

Dingemans, A., Danner, U., & Parks, M. (2017). Emotion regulation in binge eating disorder: A review. Nutrients, 9(11), 1274.

Guerdjikova, A. I., Mori, N., Casuto, L. S., & McElroy, S. L. (2017). Binge eating disorder. Psychiatric Clinics, 40(2), 255-266.