Essay On Binge Eating Disorder

The holidays have arrived with Thanksgiving and Christmas generously celebrated with numerous family members. The feast is served buffet style, anyone would happily say, “okay! Fill up the plate.” The stomach is expanding and the pants feel as though they are exploding at the seams, but one goes back for a second helping of delicious holiday food. Then one thinks after devouring all that food: am I a binge eater?
Most people tend to overeat at meals, especially during the holidays, and many feel that they eat more than they should, but this does not make one a binge eater. Dawn D. Matthews in the Eating Disorders Sourcebook defines binge eating disorder as:
A disorder primarily identified by repeated episodes of uncontrolled eating. The overeating or bingeing does not typically stop until the person is uncomfortably full. Unlike anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, however, binge eating disorder is not associated with behaviors such as vomiting or excessive
The National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders characterizes binge eating as “insatiable cravings that can occur any time of the day or night, usually secretive, and filled with shame. Binging is often rooted in poor body image, use of food to deal with stress, low self-esteem, and is tied to dysfunctional thoughts” (“Binge Eating Disorder”). Despite what some think, “binge eating disorder is in fact a mental illness—not just the extreme overeating that plagues many Americans”, says the National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders (“Binge Eating Disorder”). Diana Kohnle of the HealthDay Consumer News Service says, “a person with the disorder often eats quite rapidly, one may not stop eating when one is full, and usually feels unable to stop, often these actions are a response to stress, anger or being emotionally