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Compulsive Overeating vs Binge Eating Disorder

You’re never too old to learn something new….

In all my years around program, I never knew until recently (and only after doing my own research on the Internet) that there are two different labels used by mental health professionals to describe abnormal eating behaviors.

Here they are:

Compulsive Overeating.  Those diagnosed as “compulsive overeaters” are people who spend unusual amounts of time obsessing about food, weight,…and grazing – eating many times throughout the days.  Although these people may consume many calories when they are totalled together at the end of the day, they usually do not eat a lot in one sitting.

Binge-Eating Disorder.  Those with this diagnosis regularly eat more than 1000 calories per sitting, do it in a frenzied way (usually reporting feelings of being “out of control”), and have intense guilt and shame around this behavior.

I loved finding these “real” labels because it reinforces in my mind the idea of food addiction being an illness.  But even more amazing to me was finding out that BOTH conditions can exist in the same person at the same time!  Which is the perfect description of MY experience with eating disorders!

I am a Compulsive Overeater with a Binge-Eating Disorder! 

There is a NAME for what I have!  There is a PATTERN to what I do!

To me, it is such a relief to know this!  It means that there are so many “others” out there with the same exact problem as I have that the mental health professionals had to give “us” a name!

Isn’t that comforting?!

It is to me!!

 

June 18, 2012 This post was written by Categories: I Wish Someone Had Told Me... Tagged with:
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