Characteristics of People with BED

Eating Disorders: A Complex and Serious Mental Illness

Eating disorders, it appears, are not stages, fads, or choices, but rather complex and serious mental illnesses. According to Guerdjikova et al. (2017), the most common eating disorder in the United States is binge eating disorder (BED), which affects an estimated 2% of males (3.1 million) and 3.5% of women (5.6 million). The illness affects persons of all races, regardless of income or education level, and includes children, adolescents, and adults.

The Nature of Binge Eating Disorder

As a result, people with BED typically participate in binge eating episodes, in which they consume an excessive amount of food in a short period of time. Again, they feel a consequent loss of control over their eating habit, where they may not be in a position to stop even if they want (Westerberg & Waitz, 2013). Nevertheless, persons with binge eating disorder will have a wide range of distinguishable eating habits. That is, eating hurriedly and continuously even if they are not physically hungry or their stomach is full, to the extent by which they feel uncomfortable due to overfeeding.

The Emotional Impact and Coping Mechanisms of BED

Again, those with the BED condition are highly predominant with the feelings of shame or guilt. In fact, they feel embarrassed about the way they eat, and the amount of food they partake. Mostly, the condition occurs at the times of anger, stress, or boredom, which makes it be used as a way to cope with the challenging emotions. Westerberg & Waitz (2013) states that due to their hard feelings around other people, persons with BED turn to be secretive about their eating habits, where they opt to eat while they are alone. However, the BED condition has no connection with inappropriate compensatory responses, such as excessive exercises, purging, among others. Finally, being eating does not appear solely during anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

Reference

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

Westerberg, D. P., & Waitz, M. (2013). Binge-eating disorder. Osteopathic Family Physician, 5(6), 230-233.