February 22, 2024
Binge Eating Disorder: Understanding the Triggers and Potential Causes
Written by: Dr. Marianne Miller, LMFT @drmariannemiller!
UNDERSTANDING BINGE EATING DISORDER
What are the symptoms and characteristics of binge eating disorder?
Symptoms include eating a large quantity of food in a relatively short amount of time (not including holidays or other “eating events”), as well as feeling a tremendous amount of shame and embarrassment after having binged. Plus, it’s having a preoccupation with food, eating, and body image. Restricting food is also a characteristic of binge eating disorder, although people don’t often talk about it. Restriction leads to binge eating.
How is binge eating disorder different from other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia?
With anorexia, there are two types: restricting and binge/purge. The focus for the restricting type of anorexia is restricting calories and foods, with no binge eating or compensatory behaviors. For anorexia binge/purge type, there is a lot of restriction, as well as binge eating and purging (vomiting) to compensate for the eating. Bulimia is when people binge eat and then engage in compensatory behaviors, such as purging, using laxatives, and overexercising.
What are the potential causes or triggers of binge eating disorder?
Causes are complex. Restricting calories or food, or even certain categories of foods can lead to a glucose deficit, which can cause a binge to make up the calories. There can also be things that make you more susceptible to binge eating, such as feeling lonely, tired, helpless, hopeless, angry, and other emotions. Relationship issues and lack of boundaries can also lead to binge eating.
How common is binge eating disorder, and who is most at risk of developing it?
Over the course of one year, there is a 0.96% prevalence among females and 0.26% among males. That said, binge eating disorder tends to occur more frequently in higher weight individuals, when compared to other eating disorders. People in larger bodies aren’t typically assessed for eating disorders and don’t receive adequate care for it. So, I would guess that the actual percentages are higher.
SEEKING TREATMENT
How can therapy or counseling help individuals with binge eating disorder, and what types of therapy do you think are most effective?
Therapy for folks struggling with binge eating can definitely help, as long as the therapist has expertise, training, and experience in binge eating disorder. I use a three-pronged approach when it comes to treating binge eating: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and family systems therapy.
RECOVERY & SUPPORT
What are some practical strategies or resources for managing triggers and preventing binge episodes?
In therapy, I frequently use behavior chain analysis, which is from CBT. With it, you track the different behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that occur on each link of the chain that leads an individual to binge. The goals is to learn how to break the chain at several points, or do something different so you don’t end up binge eating.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
What qualifications or credentials should someone look for in a provider when seeking help for binge eating disorder?
I would ask the therapist how much experience they have had working with binge eating disorder, as well as how much of their caseload is with individuals with binge eating disorder. For example, I’ve been working with binge eating disorder for 12 years, and I’d say 40% of my caseload is with folks who struggle with binge eating (95% of my overall caseload has eating disorders).
About the Author
Dr. Marianne has been in the mental health field for 27 years and has specialized in eating disorders for the last 12 years. She was a full-time academic for 12 years and had a part-time eating disorder practice for much of that time until she left the university and went into private practice full-time in 2018. Dr. Marianne loves working with eating disorders as a therapist and a coach. She takes a non-diet, feminist approach that helps people of all genders live empowered, authentic lives. She embraces the Health at Every Size model, and is neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ affirming.
To learn more about Dr. Marianna Miller and the services she offers, check out her website at https://www.drmariannemiller.com/ or follow her on Instagram @drmariannemiller!
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