One thing that never fails to shock me is the general attitude towards binge eating disorder. I’ve heard all manner of very negative aspersions cast which generally all point towards the idea that someone suffering from binge eating is simply lazy and fat and that if they wanted to change they could.
Well, here’s a newsflash; they can’t.
Different outside, same inside
Despite their very different outward appearances, people suffering from binge eating disorder are suffering from many of the same psychological problems as people suffering from anorexia or bulimia. One might be very underweight, the other very overweight, but they share a hatred of their own body, severe concerns about their shape and their weight and they share a common medicine – food. One deprives himself whilst the other over indulges, but both are using food (or lack thereof) to numb their pain and try to make sense of and take control of the emotional turmoil they’re feeling. Read the rest of this entry »