Normal binge eaters v.s. obese binge eaters

The majority of people with binge eating disorder are overweight. But it doesn’t mean that people of normal weight can’t suffer from this disease. But there’s a rule: those binge eaters who are corpulent often become obese at a younger age in comparison with binge eaters of normal weight. Overweight binge eaters also lose and gain back weight more often.

Let’s turn to the statistics. About two percent of all adults Americans, what makes about four million people, suffer from binge eating disorder. It is more common in women (about 3 women for every 2 men). About ten to fifteen percent of people who are moderately obese and who try to lose weight on their own have this disorder. To say nothing of those who are severely obese – about 40 to 50 percent of them are binge eaters.

Thus, according to the type of binge eaters we may also distribute the consequences and complications into various groups. For the sake of simplicity and intelligibility we will distinguish between two groups: normal and obese binge eating. What is typical of the first group of complications is also typical of the second one, but it is not necessarily vice versa. Apart from all those psychological complications (such as depression, lack of control, general reluctance, feeling of inferiority and shame) obese binge eaters, as a matter of fact, also have serious problems with digestion, blood circulatory system, metabolism, heartwork, etc. In other words, in case of obese binge eaters physiological complications of binge eating disorder is much more apparent.

Well, they also may have gallbladder and heart disease. Also there’s a great risk of cancer. Moreover, they may not get the necessary amount of nutrients as fatty and sugary food that they usually send in their throats doesn’t contain significant vitamins and minerals. And its like a chain reaction, as this pattern of eating may lead to avitaminosis and diabetes; then it comes to high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And what comes next?

What causes binge eating disorder?

Well, it’s quite difficult to say what causes binge eating disorder. The causes of this disease vary from person to person and it’s almost impossible to say what of them are the major ones. They are often a number of different contributory factors, many of which usually come from the person’s past. More than a half of binge eating disorder sufferers have been depressed in the past. But still we can’t say for sure whether depression causes the disease or vice versa. Binge eaters often suffer from sleeping disorders. It is typical of them to be angry, irritated, sad, anxious, bored, or worried. Being in these states they eat more than normal people usually do. And again we have a chicken-and-egg problem.

Those who suffer from binge eating disorder may be ashamed of their binges and well aware that what they are doing is considered to be wrong. But they may not know the real cause or causes that stand behind their illness.

BED causes are traumatic events that happened or conditions that were fulfilled some time before the disorder itself occurred and began to develop. Therefore, it’s quite problematic to trace back from the current situation to the point when it all started. Yet we will try to draw a list of possible causes of binge eating disorder. None of them is predominant and their order has nothing to do with the extent of their importance and probability. Moreover the list is by no means a complete one. So here they are:

• Problems with metabolism
  
• Sexual abuse or rape
  
• Relationship problems
  
• Death of a dear person
  
• Physical violence
  
• Emotional abuse
  
• Divorce of parents
  
• Ill health in childhood
  
• Pressure to succeed at school
  
• Serious illness in the family
  
• Peer pressure
  
• Stressful exams
  
• Surgery
  
• Traumatic event in life
  

It should be born in mind that binge eating disorder is a sign, or a symptom, of something wrong that had place in the past of the sufferer. You can’t fell sick of BED at once. Nobody comes binge eating disordered directly, it happens gradually over time. And to determine the origin of the problem is the primary task for those who want to find the solution for this problem.