Content warning: References to fatphobia, diet culture, and disordered eating thoughts and behaviours.
Anna Wolfe
I have spent half of my life dealing with an eating disorder, going from clinically obese to severely underweight. But the silence around binge eating disorder made everything worse.
What Is Binge Eating Disorder?
Binge eating disorder (BED) is a serious mental illness where people eat very large quantities of food without feeling like they’re in control of what they’re doing. But unlike those with bulimia, people with BED don’t attempt to get rid of the food through vomiting, laxatives or exercise.
https://twitter.com/beatED/status/1768931295671783478
People with BED may go to extreme lengths to access food, such as stealing or eating food that’s been thrown away. They often eat alone due to embarrassment and experience disgust, shame, or guilt during or after the binge. While some people restrict their diet outside of binges, others eat regular meals.
BED is believed to be the most prevalent eating disorder in the UK.
Living with BED
“Despite one in 50 people experiencing BED during in their lifetime, the majority of people keep it a secret.”
While most people are aware of the risks associated with food restriction or purging, few know the adverse effects of binging.
At the height of my BED, I’d eat until I was in physical pain. Eventually, I was hospitalised because my digestive system had stopped working. In my case, binging had become an act of self-harm.
Aside from the health problems, BED was incredibly mentally challenging. Every binge was followed by intense shame. I felt immense pressure to adhere to cultural norms around body shape. Being surrounded by fatphobia and restrictive dieting made me feel like I was the only one struggling with binge eating. It seemed like I was the only one who couldn’t control myself around food. I couldn’t adhere to society’s unattainable standards. I was the problem.
But, in reality, the shame I felt was the result of widespread misinformation.
Why People Suffer In Silence
Despite one in 50 people experiencing BED during their lifetime, the majority of people keep it a secret. The guilt and disgust felt after a binging episode is suffocating. In addition to being deeply distressing, binges can feel like a personal failure rather than an illness. As a result, many of us feel isolated and unable to talk about BED.
Start 2 Stop counsellor Daisy King said: “Binge eating disorder can be as hard to give up as heroin, and it’s more prevalent than statistics suggest.”
While BED can be as all-consuming as other eating disorders, it isn’t taken as seriously. The stigma attached to overeating, especially when it feels out of our control, makes people too ashamed to seek help. People with BED feel they should be able to stop binging and this sentiment is often echoed by friends, family and doctors.
The misconceptions around eating disorders, particularly BED, cause people to suffer in silence.
Journalist, Bryony Gordon talks candidly about developing binge eating disorder during the pandemic.
This comes as Eating Disorder Charity Beat has found the number of people that developed a binge eating disorder is double what it was pre-pandemic. pic.twitter.com/s435gNlK60
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 27, 2024
Common Misconceptions About BED
1. You can see if somebody has an eating disorder
One of the biggest myths is that you can see if somebody has an eating disorder. That simply isn’t the case.
In the past, eating disorder research and treatment focused on weight and body shape. It was commonly believed that being underweight was an obvious sign that somebody had an eating disorder. Even medical professionals used weight as a tool when diagnosing eating disorders.
However, we know now that people of all shapes and sizes can have eating disorders. People with BED don’t look any different from anyone else, because it is a mental illness.
2. Eating disorders are always about food and weight
BED is comparable to forms of substance abuse, such as alcoholism. Binge eating is a way of dealing with difficult emotions and situations, as food can easily numb your body and distract your mind.
Ava says: “It was a way to shut my brain off and cope with life as I just couldn’t cope.”
In some instances, BED develops as a response to trauma. About one in four people who binge eat have post-traumatic stress disorder. People who are sexually assaulted are also likely to develop eating disorders.
Much like substance abuse, binge eating simply becomes addictive after a while. This means BED can persist, even if the original ‘trigger’ is no longer there, because your brain and body are dependent on the high.
3. People who binge eat lack willpower
Umairah Malik, the Clinical Advice Coordinator for eating disorder charity BEAT, says: “There’s a misconception that binge eating is ‘overindulging’ or ‘being greedy.'”
This misconception stems from living in a fatphobic culture, where overeating or eating certain foods are highly stigmatised. Whether it’s diet magazines in shops or ‘what I eat in a day’ reactions online, we’re constantly being told that overeating is shameful.
“Almost half of respondents to BEAT UK’s 2021 survey felt they weren’t taken seriously when they finally sought professional support.”
It isn’t a lack of willpower. People with BED frequently report being on autopilot or dissociating while binging. Some people can’t remember what they’ve eaten afterwards. When I binged, it felt as though I was in a trance I couldn’t snap out of unless I was physically forced to.
Despite this, individuals with BED are too scared to ask for help, in case they’re perceived as lacking self-control. It doesn’t help that most doctors don’t understand BED and that most eating disorder support caters exclusively to anorexia and bulimia.
https://twitter.com/beatED/status/1596576545988042754
What Needs To Change
Eating disorders are on the rise, and the medical community have a responsibility to step away from falsities. Almost half of respondents to BEAT UK‘s 2021 survey felt they weren’t taken seriously when they finally sought professional support. People are often dismissed by doctors if they aren’t underweight. Similarly, doctors will acknowledge the physical symptoms of BED but not the mental ones.
King, who works with BED clients, says: “The medical community doesn’t offer as much support to people with BED because in their eyes it’s not so immediately dangerous.”
But the internal toll is dangerous. Jess, who also had anorexia and bulimia, says binge eating was “the most mentally damaging of all forms of disordered eating I had.”
More research is also needed to fully understand the demographics most at risk of BED.
Malik says eating disorders are just as common in minority ethnic groups, with some studies even showing an increased prevalence. Racial and ethnic discrimination can also be a trigger for binging. Despite this, it’s commonly believed white women are more likely to develop eating disorders.
“I am still here.”
I would never have imagined my relationship with myself would be where it is today. Recovery is possible, no matter how farfetched it might seem. Despite struggling with anorexia, bulimia and BED, I am still here.
The shame we’re made to feel about ourselves is toxic. It’s important we challenge the misconceptions around binge eating disorder, especially those based on fatphobia and diet culture.
UK charity BEAT have helplines for eating disorders, including one-to-one web chat and email. You can speak to someone 3pm–8pm, 7 days a week, 365 days a year at the following phone numbers:
- England: 0808 801 0677
- Scotland: 0808 801 0432
- Wales: 0808 801 0433
- Northern Ireland: 0808 801 0434
For more information, read about BEAT’s helplines and how they work here.
If you are in need of urgent help or medical advice, for yourself or someone else, please contact 999 or the Samaritans on 116 123 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
If you are looking for medical advice contact your GP or 111.
Featured image courtesy of Nico Titto on Unsplash. No changes made to this image. Image license found here.
Anna Wolfe
Anna Wolfe is a freelance journalist and podcaster. Her work covers everything from sobriety and subcultures to sexuality and societal commentary. Passionate about mental health, her writing always seeks to educate, empower and end shame in all its forms.