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Unit 76

What Is Compulsive Overeating?

Compulsive overeating is a health problem, which can affect women or men, though it appears twice as often among women. In this serious eating disorder, a person eats a lot of food in a short amount of time. This is called bingeing. Compulsive overeaters often binge. This can lead to serious medical problems, including obesity. Obesity is related to serious medical problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, trouble breathing and sleep problems.

No one knows the exact cause of compulsive overeating. Many compulsive overeaters use food for comfort. Others binge to deal with stress. Eating makes tem feel better, but only for a short time. Usually compulsive overeaters feel guilty for eating so much, which makes them feel bad about themselves. This leads to more stress, which leads to more overeating, and so on. It becomes a pattern that is hard to stop. Overeaters often feel their eating is out of control. Compulsive overeaters also feel they are not in control of their emotions. They have trouble dealing with feelings like anger, sadness, loneliness, guilt, and shame.

There are many warning signs which indicate that someone may be suffering from compulsive overeating disorder. They include: eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry; eating much more rapidly than normal; eating until the point of feeling uncomfortably full; often eating alone because of shame or embarrassment; suffering feelings of depression, disgust, or guilt after eating; with a history of marked weight fluctuations.

Compulsive overeating generally has a gradual beginning, often starting in early childhood when eating patterns are formed. It usually starts very subtly, when a child turns to food whenever they were upset. Over time, you learn that food in fact will soothe the upset feelings. The destructive pattern continues as you do not learn to trust that feelings pass and that you are capable of self-soothing without food.

Like someone with bulimia, when you compulsively overeat, you usually try every way you can to stop. Often the attempt at control takes the form of strict dieting or living by inflexible standards of eating. While strict dieting may help with the weight gain, in the long run it doesn't do anything to handle the emotional reasons for the compulsive overeating. Moreover, restrictive dieting is so depriving that it creates a situation of compounded desperation to eat. Therefore, dieting often backfires and just promotes the compulsive overeating.

If you feel that you or someone you know may be suffering from compulsive overeating disorder, it is important to seek professional help as quickly as possible. If untreated, compulsive overeating will become part of a destructive cycle which can continue for years and cause significant health problems. Talking to a compulsive overeating treatment professional is the first step toward successful recovery.