Binge Eating Among Weight Loss Surgery Patients

Binge eating disorder, also known as emotional eating, is a symptom where one is not able to control the amounts that they are able to eat. This disorder functions at several different levels in relation to one’s emotions. There are several characteristics that are associated with binge eating disorder that may make one to become morbidly obese. If this is the case with you, changing binge eating habits before and after weight loss surgery is extremely important.

Binge eating disorder has several characteristics associated with it.

Some will also call this emotional eating. Instead of eating when you are hungry, you will go through episodes of eating when depressed, anxious or when you are not hungry. It will also often times include eating too much or eating quickly. If you have any of these symptoms, it will be important to get the necessary help in relation to the disorder before and after the weight loss surgery.

• Because binge eating is caused mostly by an emotional response, it can be balanced by getting the right emotional treatment.
• Several will use anti-depressants in order to control their binge eating habits.
• You can also consider getting one of several types of therapies to control your eating.
• There are several alternative and traditional therapies that are available for those who are trying to change their eating habits.
• Often times, it will be found that this uncontrolled eating is related to family, relationship, work or other types of stressful factors. Overcoming these emotional factors will help you to balance your physical success.

Another step that is important to take with binge eating disorder is to make sure that the right support is available outside of the therapy you are considering. Family and friends, as well as finding new ways to support yourself in overcoming this disorder will help you to overcome the problem over time. If you can’t find support through this, than you can join a support group to find the help that you need.

If you get weight loss surgery and don’t get the type of emotional help that you need for a binge eating disorder, it can cause several complications after the surgery. Binge eating disorder will need to be controlled after the surgery. If not, you will be at a higher risk for health problems as well as risks that are related to after effects of the surgery. Because your stomach is functioning as a smaller entity, it may cause a reversal of the surgery, moving to severe complications.

Knowing that you have a binge eating disorder or are an emotional eater is the first step to changing your health and how you eat. After this acknowledgement, you can begin to take the right steps to change the disorder. If you have been through weight loss surgery, it is especially important to stop eating from emotional responses. By changing this element, you will not only be able to gain control over your life, but will also have a better chance of staying alive.

What are Eating Disorders

Eating can be controlled or affected by a range of factors, such as appetite, the types and quantities of foods available, family, peer, and cultural practices or pressures, eating habits, and voluntary desires to control eating.
Eating Disorders are serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy food intake reduction or severe overeating. In addition to the eating aspects, those who suffer from Eating Disorders in other ways. For example, they may also have feelings of distress, depression, or are extremely concerned about their body shape or weight.
In today’s society, current fashion trends, sales campaigns for special foods, and various activities and professions promote an often unrealistically lean body type, where body weight is leaner than that needed or recommended for health reasons.
These pressures can induce people to eat less than the recommended amounts, and lead to a range of eating disorders. Researchers continue to investigate the link between voluntary behaviors, such as eating smaller or larger amounts of food than normal, and the time when such activities move beyond the person’s control and develop into an Eating Disorder.
Eating Disorders frequently develop during adolescence or early adulthood. However, recent research suggests that their onset can also occur during childhood or later in adulthood.
Eating disorders frequently occur in conjunction with other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders.
Females are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. For example, approximately one-sixth of people with Anorexia or Bulimia are male, and approximately one-third of people with Binge-Eating Disorder are male.
People with eating disorders may experience a range of serious physical health complications, including serious heart conditions and kidney failure which may lead to death.
It is important to note that Eating Disorders are not due to a failure of will or behavior. In fact, Eating Disorders are now known to be real, treatable medical illnesses in which certain harmful eating patterns become dominant. Recognition of eating disorders as real and treatable diseases is very important.
Appetite control and the affect of prolonged overeating or starvation is a highly complex area, and research is continuing in these areas. Eventually, such research may lead to new and improved treatments for eating disorders.
Eating disorders are not new illnesses. They have been present in one form or another for centuries.

The main types of Eating Disorders are:

• Anorexia
• Bulimia
• Binge-Eating Disorder. (Each of these is discussed below)

Binge-Eating Disorder

Binge-Eating Disorder is characterized by periods of binge eating without any compensatory behavior, such as vomiting or excessive exercise. That is, Binge-Eating Disorder is similar to Bulimia in that sufferers binge eat, but it is a distinct disorder because sufferers of Binge-Eating Disorder do not compensate for their over eating.
Because people with Binge-Eating Disorder experience frequent episodes of out-of-control over eating, without compensating for the excess calorie intake, many with the disorder are overweight or extremely obese for their age, sex, and height.
Feelings of self-disgust and shame associated with this illness can lead to bingeing again, creating a repeating cycle of binge eating.

Binge-Eating Disorder was only recognized as a distinct eating disorder in the 1990s.

It is currently estimated that between 2% to 5% of females living in Western society will suffer from some form of Binge-Eating Disorder at some time during their life.
Approximately one- third of Western people with Binge-Eating Disorder are male, so less than 1% of Western males will suffer from some form of Binge-Eating Disorder at some time during their life.

Signs and Symptoms

Binge-Eating Disorder is characterized by:

• Recurring binge eating episodes, which involves the consumption of large amounts of food within a short period of time. The person may feel a sense of loss of control and shame following these episodes.
• Each binge-eating episode is associated with at least 3 of the following:
  • Eating much more rapidly than normal.
  • Eating until feeling uncomfortably full.
  • Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry.
  • Eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating;
  • Feeling disgusted with oneself, distressed, depressed, or very guilty after overeating.
• Binge eating without any compensatory behavior, such as purging, fasting, or exercise.
• Overweight / Obese
• Because people with Binge-Eating Disorder experience frequent episodes of out-of-control over eating, without compensating for the excess calorie intake, many with the disorder are overweight or extremely obese for their age, sex, and height.
• Feelings of self-disgust and shame associated with this illness can lead to bingeing again, creating a repeating cycle of binge eating.

In addition to the signs and symptoms for each type of Eating Disorder, a range of warning signs can also indicate the possible development of an Eating Disorder.

Diagnosis

Initially, friends and family may suspect that a person suffers from Binge-Eating Disorder by observing one or more of the signs and symptoms of the condition regularly over a period of time, or by observing one of the warning signs of Eating Disorder in general
A diagnosis for Binge-Eating Disorder usually requires that the binge eating occurs, on average, at least twice a week over a period of at least 6 months.

Treatment

The treatment goals and strategies for Binge-Eating Disorder are similar to those for Bulimia (see section 5.8 Treatment above). Further research studies are currently evaluating the effectiveness of various interventions and other treatments for this condition.
Binge Eating Disorder is a type of eating disorder characterized by sustained binge eating to excess followed by periods of guilt and disgust. Unlike bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder does not include periods of purging. The disease is supposedly prevalent among 1-5% of the population. This disease affects women slightly more than men (60%-40%). Additionally, people with binge eating disorder can be of normal or over weight. Other characteristics include:
1. Feeling out of control with eating behavior 2. Eating when not hungry 3. Eating in secret 4. Depression is prevalent among people with this eating disorder 5. Feeling of shame and distress after the binge eating episode.

The health risks are the same as those associated with clinical obesity and include:

1. High cholesterol and blood pressure 2. Heart and gall bladder disease 3. Diabetes mellitus

Generally, people who appear to suffer for this eating disorder will have a low self esteem and could also be experiencing family and/or relationship problems. They could also have experienced some childhood trauma including severe bullying, teasing, physical or sexual abuse. Scientists are working on a link between disorders such as binge eating disorder to biological or biochemical causes. There have been findings linking hunger, appetite and digestion chemical imbalances in the brain with eating disorders.