What is Binge Eating Disorder?
Binge eating disorder is a very common eating disorder in our society and a very new diagnostic category. Unlike bulimia, where bingeing also appears, the person with this disorder does not try to compensate with purgative behavior. The bingeing behavior is frequently associated with gaining weight. Although people with binge eating disorder want to lose weight, they normally don’t apply any strategies besides diets.
Binge eating disorder can be diagnosed if bingeing appears in the form of episodes or cycles 1 time per week during the last 3 months.
It is important to understand well what binge eating is. The clinical meaning of a binge does not always correspond to what we commonly understand by binge eating. Binge eating is eating an amount of food that is greater than what most people would eat over a similar period under similar circumstances. It is accompanied by a feeling of lack of control over what is eaten during the episode.
Binge eating episodes are associated with the following:
Eating much faster than normal.
Eating until you feel unpleasantly full.
Eating large amounts of food when you don't feel physically hungry.
Eating alone due to embarrassment over the amount eaten.
Later feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or very ashamed.
Emotions in binge eating
Binge eating disorder is based on using food to anesthetize some emotions that we don´t know how to manage in another way.
This behavior creates a lot of shame, discomfort and self-deprecation, which negatively affects our self-esteem and relationships. These problems also cause strong unpleasant emotions that the person does not know how to manage. As a consequence, use food to anesthetize them. A vicious circle is created which is very difficult to break.
Our binge eating disorder treatment is based on the relational psychodynamic approach and mentalization-based therapy. The effectiveness of these treatments has a solid scientific basis.
How to overcome Binge Eating Disorder: Help and Treatment
We are a psychology center in Barcelona specialized in the treatment of eating disorders.
Our therapy and the role of the psychologist in binge eating disorder focuses on accompanying the person to:
- learn to manage your emotions in another way
- learn to treat themselves differently
- learn to take into account
- improve your self-esteem
- learn to relate in another, more rewarding way, with others and with oneself
First of all, we offer therapy with highly qualified psychotherapists specialized in the treatments of Eating Disorders. The treatment can be either in the form of an outpatients treatment (individual and/or a Group therapy) or part of an Intensive program (Day Treatment) with additional accompaniment.
Moreover, we offer support from nutritionists, who specialize in treating Eating Disorders, and medical doctors, who collaborates with a team of therapists and take care of the somatic symptoms related to Eating Disorders.