Binge eating is not simply scoffing an extra biscuit, with your morning coffee break. Instead, it involves eating fast, an extremely large amount of food (more than you would eat for lunch or dinner), and usually in secret. It can feel like a dissociative or ‘out of body’ experience. You are fully present and grounded on earth, but it feels as if demon has swept over you and taken all rational decision making away. Binge eating can fleetingly be euphoric and pleasurable. This is short-lived before guilt, shame and self-loathing descend like a dark cloud. Plus, the physical consequences of feeling over-full are deeply unpleasant and sometimes painful.
Binge eating can happen across the different eating disorders and within disordered eating. You might have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder or OSFED (Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder). Or you may not fit neatly into a diagnostic box. Fundamentally, if you are bingeing and your symptoms are causing you distress, you are worthy of support and help.
In this episode, I discuss 5 emotions that drive binge eating and how to cope differently.
Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist
Harriet Frew's current offers: -
Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html
Online Breaking Free from Bulimia
https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html
Eating Disorders Training for Professionals
https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html
Body Image Training for Professionals
https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html