Not Alone

Bumping this post to include the link to Beth's blog, A Sense of Scale. Thank you for sharing your story. (For other resources in dealing with binge eating disorder, check the comments.)

According to a new study, binge eating is a more common eating disorder than anorexia and bulimia combined, and it affects more than 1 in 35 adults. 10 to 15 percent of the obese population suffers from binge eating, as did the author of this article. Binge eaters also have higher levels of anxiety and depression than those who do not binge, but are equally overweight.

"I learned where the few all-night mom-and-pop shops were located so I could pick up the evening’s supply on my way home from work. Then I would spend the night eating nonstop, first something sweet, then something salty, then back to sweet, and so on. A half-gallon of ice cream was only the beginning. I was capable of consuming 3,000 calories at a sitting. Many mornings I awakened to find partly chewed food still in my mouth."

Yet somehow, binge eating is not classified, formally, as an eating disorder. My theory is that binge eating makes you fat, and therefore far less sympathetic. People look at an anorexic woman and think how sad, she clearly needs help; whereas people look at obese women and think she is a "fat pig" who has no self control. And yet anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are all eating disorders and all deserve support and treatment.

Thanks to Jen Wade for sending along the article.