Binge Eating Disorder--The Other Eating Disorder

So why does this happen?  What causes someone to engage in this kind of behavior and develop a full-blown eating disorder?  This is the part of BED that does NOT differ from the other eating disorders.   Most eating disorders are related to psychic pain that has not been properly resolved, addressed or processed.  Eating disorders are not really about food.  Sure, the day-to-day behavior is ALL about food, but the underneath is about psychological pain.  Like any addiction, most people use eating disorders as a way to escape painful feelings or experiences.  These painful feelings can be associated with past trauma, present conflicts or both.  Eating disorders serve much like a drug or alcohol.  They take you out of life.  Life is instead consumed with thoughts about eating in the future, actual eating, and guilt about past eating.  This allows a person to entirely escape deeply rooted anxiety, depression or trauma and instead focus on food.   As the eating disorder gets more deeply entrenched, a person gets further away from having the life that they want as they tend to be isolative and disengaged from many aspects of their very existence. 

             BED is a painful, consuming disorder that requires professional intervention.  Typically, a multi disciplinary approach is the most successful with a team comprised of experts that at least includes a therapist specializing in eating disorders, a psychiatrist, and a nutritionist.  All eating disorders are resistant to treatment, much like any addiction.  However, it is entirely possible to fully recover from BED and all eating disorders with the proper professional guidance.  All that is required to begin the process of healing is hard work and a commitment and a desire to get well.            

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