A patient came to see me because she needed a heart operation. You may think that it is strange that someone would come to see a therapist because of a heart condition. She began explaining why she needed my help. Here is Sally’s story:
“I have a very serious heart condition,” she explained. “I need a heart bypass surgery as soon as possible, but my surgeon will not operate until I lose a significant amount of weight. I was put on a monitored liquid diet and started to lose weight. I went to my doctor appointments and he was impressed with my progress . . . at first.”
“I don’t understand why I left his office that day and went to a fast food restaurant drive-up window and order enough food to feed three people. I ate it all in a blur! I didn’t even think about what I was doing. This began a decent into a helpless, hopeless state. I began sneaking food while I continued my liquid diet. My weight started returning. My doctor asked if I was eating other foods in addition to the prescribe diet. I said “no.’” I have been lying to my doctor for the last two months. My family does not know. I am acting like a drug addict with my food. I don’t want to die. I love my family and want to be there to see my grandchildren. What is wrong with me?”
According to the CDC (“>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3757519) concludes that treatment programs with cognitive behavioral therapy were significantly more effective than weight loss programs in a two-year follow up. To fully recover from binge eating disorder a person must deal with the underlying, internal causes of the disorder.
In summary, dieting, using food for emotions, eating highly palatable, sugar dense, processed foods, excessive stress (i.e. high cortisol) and genetic expression have been implicated in binge eating disorders. You cannot tell if a person has binge eating disorder by the way they look look. Some people with binge eating disorder are overweight or obese but many people are of normal size. A defining characteristic of binge eating disorder is the obsessive thoughts of food, weight, diet or body image and a loss of control over food.
For more information about eating disorders go to “>800.711.2062
