Hey, did you just pop a cookie in your mouth, or guiltily finished a whole packet of chips? Honey, I think you might be binge eating.
Everybody overeats occasionally, and that’s not a bad thing. But are you truly hungry while you’re overeating, or just trying to fill a void in you?
Binge eating is when you consume a lot of food in a short period of time even when you aren’t hungry in order to numb your emotions.
Consequently, you develop a feeling of shame or guilt and force yourself to vomit.
Overeating and binge eating are not the same thing. People who binge are usually unhappy with their looks. Because of what people say or have said about their body, they often go through negative feelings about it.
You may find yourself comparing your body to those of skinny models on TV and in magazines. You may have a poor body image as a result of this. Binge eating can be a result of low self-esteem. These emotions can lead to overeating.
The 6 early warning signs of binge eating:
Eating excessively huge quantities of food in a short period of time.
Eating when you are not hungry.
Eating at a breakneck speed.
Eating alone or behind closed doors.
Feelings of guilt or shame when it comes to food.
Dieting on a regular basis, possibly without achieving weight reduction.
Frequent binge eating sessions can have long-term negative effects on physical health. Many people dismiss binge eating patterns as “emotional eating” – however, they can be extremely dangerous if left untreated, leading to diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
Binge Eating, like most mental illnesses, does not have a single aetiology and can be caused by a variety of psychological, social and biological factors.
It is a type of eating disorder that is usually undiagnosed, unlike anorexia and bulimia, and affects more men than women.
