DESCRIPTION
Compulsive eating is when someone begins to eat obsessively and rely on it for emotional support.[1]It can be described as an 'addiction to food' . A compulsive eater will continuously eat small amounts of food throughout a day which actually results in an extremely large calorie consumption.[2] Someone who has 'binges' of overeating is said to have 'Binge eating disorder'.[2]
CAUSES
Depression or emotional stress/trauma can cause compulsive or binge overeating disorder.[2] Compulsive overeaters or bingers use food as a way of medicating themselves through stressful situations.[1] They can feel overwhelming shame and guilt, and as a result of their increasing weight may try to diet, which leads to a feeling of emotional loss and more bingeing.[1]
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms include obesity, consumption of large amounts of food when not hungry, eating in isolation, rapid eating to the point of being uncomfortable, fear of being unable to control eating, fluctuations in weight, frequent diets that fail, hoarding and hiding food, secretive eating patterns, belief that food is the only friend they have, excessive sweating, short breath, high blood pressure/cholesterol, leg and joint pain, loss of sexual desire, insomnia and mood disorders.[3]
PREVALENCE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY
The majority of compulsive overeaters are male[3], though whether this is a biological or cultural phenomenon is unproven. Those already suffering from mood disorders are more susceptible, though sometimes mood disorders can be an effect of overeating disorder rather than a cause. Compulsive overeaters may have suffered from sexual abuse at some point in life, or some form of major trauma in childhood.[2] [4]
TREATMENT
80% of sufferers who seek treatment fully recover from compulsive overeating disorder. Initial treatment may focus on returning the sufferer to a normal eating pattern, and addresses any underlying emotional problems that the sufferer may have.[2][5]
SOURCES
[1] - http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Understandi...
[2] - http://www.mirror-mirror.org/compulsive.htm
[3] - http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/ohe/library/bodyimage/signs2.htm
[4] - http://www.something-fishy.org/whatarethey/coe.php
[5] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge_eating_disorder