What do you Know about Binge Eating Disorder?
Eating disorders remain misunderstood but affect 1.25 million people in the UK and have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. It’s important that we raise awareness and understanding to help reduce stigma and make it easier for people to feel able to seek support. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is an example of an eating disorder than is often not recognised as an illness. In an effort to raise understanding of this problem, BED was the focus on Eating Disorder Awareness week in 2021.
What is Binge Eating Disorder?
BED involves consuming large amounts of food over a short period of time and feeling a lack of control over this. This may also include eating rapidly, when not hungry, and until uncomfortably full. Binges are often planned and occur in secret which means it can be a disorder that is hard to spot and can go undetected. Bingeing can result in feelings of shame, disgust and embarrassment which can make it hard for people to feel able to talk about it and seek support.
How does BED Develop?
Eating disorders can develop as a result of a combination of things which may include low self-esteem and confidence, perfectionism, a lack of control over other things, trauma, social pressures and ideals about body image and appearance, and a difficulty managing emotions.
How is BED Treated?
BED affects 1 in 50 of us. Of these, only 1 in 4 will receive treatment. There may be many reasons for this including stigma, not recognising this as a mental health condition and a lack of awareness of the support and treatment available. BED is treatable. NICE (the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence) recommends treatment based in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for BED, including self-help, group CBT and 1:1 CBT.
Treatment focuses on the following:
Monitoring eating to make helpful changes. This includes planning meals and snacks to support regular eating habits.
Understanding triggers for binge eating and developing other ways to respond to these triggers.
Identifying underlying causes for BED to help understand the problem and find new ways to manage the difficulties that contributed to its development.
Building awareness of emotions and learning how to manage them in helpful ways.
Understanding and challenging negative thinking to help break unhelpful patterns maintaining the problem.
Get Help for Binge Eating Disorder
Binge Eating Disorder is a recognised condition and an experienced professional will be able to offer support. Here are some of the different ways to can get help with BED.
CBT
CBT is a form of psychotherapy that helps us understand how the way we think and behave impacts on how we feel emotionally. It focuses on supporting you to make positive changes to patterns of thought and behaviour to improve the way you feel. You can find out more about this here.
Support from your GP
Speaking to your GP can be a helpful first step for seeking support. Your GP may be able to inform you about treatment options and specialist eating disorder services in your area. Read more about speaking with your GP about mental health here.
Self-Help
There are a number of self-help books available. When using self-help, it is important to consider the credibility of the information provided. One of the recommended CBT-based self-help books for BED is Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn.
Specialist Support & Helplines
BEAT is an eating disorder charity that offers helplines, advice and resources to help promote awareness and offer support. Support is available through BEAT if you are worried about someone with an eating disorder.
NHS Support
The NHS have further information about eating disorders and the options for treatment and support.
How we can Help
Our mission at Brighter Minds is to Empower You to improve your mental wellbeing. We want to support you to make informed choices about your treatment. We offer 1:1 CBT appointments online across the UK. Get in touch with us here.