This description of feeling out of control with the eating disorder of "binge eating" comes very close to the "out of control," compulsive feeling I get with Oral Self Injury.
Apparently the "out of control" feeling stems from insecurity and fear, initially, which triggers a need to "control" something. I personally believe this has something to do with the "old brain," or "reptile brain," which concerns itself mainly with fight or flight, survival skills which we evolved, but do not need nearly as much as we did in the era of Early Man.
Experts say leading obesity factor has long been overlooked
Carol C., a 35-year-old purchasing manager, says that in a single 90-minute sitting, she could eat a large mushroom pizza, 3 cheese sandwiches, a pint of chocolate ice cream, and 5 large pieces of cake, smothered with frosting. Such binges became habitual, occurring as often as every other day and causing the 5'7" woman's weight to climb to 203 pounds. "I hated myself," she says. "I felt so depressed for becoming obese and not being able to control my eating. My depression would lead me to binge more, which made me feel even more guilty. It became a downward spiral."
John S., a 66-year-old retired teacher who has been bingeing since childhood, describes feeling out of control once he embarks on an eating spree. "It's like a rolling snowball," he says.
Echoing a common theme among people who binge, John said his episodes are often triggered by emotional upsets. Once, after a disturbing phone call, he ate half a box of crackers with 5 ounces of cheddar cheese, 5 tablespoons of peanut butter on 4 Wasa Toast, 2 candy bars, and 3 raspberry-filled sandwich cookies.
Many sufferers of binge eating disorder consume as much as 10,000 calories in one sitting. During the binge, the person "mentally and emotionally checks out," says Seda Ebrahimi, Ph.D., director of the eating disorders treatment program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.
Almost everyone splurges now and then, often in response to stress or boredom. But what distinguishes Carol's and John's binges from garden-variety over eating is that splurges become compulsive, habitual attempts to cope with life's everyday anxieties. What's more, binges become a source of extreme guilt and shame. Many sufferers resort to such measures as bingeing alone in the car to hide their "secret" from even close friends and family.
Well-informed health experts now recognize that frequent bingeing, dubbed binge eating disorder (BED), requires psychological intervention. But BED still is not officially singled out as an eating disorder on a par with anorexia nervosa and bulimia in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the "bible" of the American Psychiatric Association.
The failure to recognize that BED is a psychiatric disorder rather than a dietary one is a major obstacle standing in the way of its diagnosis and treatment, perpetuating a widespread public health problem. As many as 50 percent of obese people who seek treatment for weight loss may suffer from binge eating. About a third of these bingers are men.
"My patients tell me, "I feel as out of control as a bulimic, but I don't purge. I wish I did purge, because then I could get treatment," says Seda Ebrahimi, Ph.D., director of the eating disorders treatment program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. The lack of purging -- vomiting, abusing laxatives, or overexercising after eating-- is what often leads patients and physicians to overlook BED and minimize the severity of the problem, treating it simply as overeating.
Coming to terms with BED
The definition of binge eating disorder includes the following:
Extreme distress is the aftermath of a binge is one of the key hallmarks that separates BED from ordinary overeating. In fact, many BED patients wake up the day after a binge with what they call a food hangover. "It's very much like one feels after drinking too much alcohol," says Dr. Ebrahimi. "Patients feel groggy, and they cannot think clearly. They also feel physically uncomfortable."
"After a typical binge, I would feel horrible," says Carol C. "My stomach would ache and I would feel swollen. I would feel so emotionally and physically devastated that it became hard for me to go to work."