Do you feel out of control around food? Are there times when you start eating and can't stop, and other times you don't allow yourself to eat anything you don't consider "healthy?"
Living with binge eating disorder is like riding a rollercoaster of emotions. You feel a high from those days of being “good" with food (and ultimately unsatisfied), and as low as can be on the days you binge. On your good days, you're unstoppable, feeling the high that comes from eating “clean.” You might have a seemingly normal, binge-free day or two, and then the anxiety starts creeping back in. You need your fix. The craving to binge feels overwhelming. And then it happens, likely in secret. You're then riddled with guilt, shame and disgust. You either isolate yourself or are forced to get on with your day, feeling physically ill and emotionally overwhelmed by negative thoughts and feelings.
People with binge eating disorder consume large quantities of food often at a rapid pace to the point of physical discomfort. There is a sense of loss of control during these binge episodes, followed by immense feelings of guilt and shame. People with bing eating disorder tend to overvalue their shape and weight, and are often struggling to maintain or lose weight, regardless of their size. Binge eating disorder often leads to or exacerbates anxiety, depression and other mood disorders.
Binge eating disorder is a highly destructive disease that does not discriminate against gender, age or size. Only recently recognized as a diagnosable condition, binge eating disorder is the most common of all eating disorders, impacting 5.5% of the adult population in the United States. As isolating as binge eating can be, you are not alone in this, and you can get help. Schedule a free consultation so we can talk about how I can help you get your life back.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) – A skills-based approach to eating disorder symptom management, DBT helps to increase mindfulness around hunger and food intake, increase ability to tolerate distressing situations that may trigger restricting/bingeing/purging cycles, help to regulate strong emotions that may trigger eating disordered thoughts and behaviors, and improve relationships patterns.
Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E)– A structured treatment that helps one to understand the underlying beliefs that maintain their eating disorder. Through the CBT-E process, effort is made to change underlying beliefs or schemas by targeting them individually. The practice of self-monitoring, an evidence-based way to increase understanding of one’s emotional experience while eating, is used and reviewed throughout treatment.
Family-Based Treatment (FBT)– Also known as the Maudsley approach, Family-Based Treatment was developed at the Maudsley Hospital in London and is an empirically proven method used to reduce eating disorder symptoms in adolescents with eating disorders. FBT engages the whole family, especially parents, in helping their child recover from an eating disorder. Parents learn to support their child during mealtimes in efforts to restore regular eating habits.