Binge Eating Disorder

The third and most recently defined eating disorder is binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is characterized by episodes of binging without any subsequent purging behavior. Patients with this disorder eat more rapidly than normal until completely full, and they consume an amount of food far beyond the point of satisfying physical hunger. They often eat alone or secretly because of embarrassment, and they have strong feelings of guilt, depression, or self-disgust.
Binge eating disorder, (currently being researched) as defined by the DSM-IV, is characterized by:

1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both the following:
   
   • Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within a 2 hour period), amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in similar circumstances
   • A sense of lack of  control over eating during the episode
2. The binge-eating episodes are associated with three (or more) of the following: (1) eating much more rapidly than normal, (2) eating until feeling uncomfortably full, (3) eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry, (4) eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating, (5) feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty after overeating.

To receive a diagnosis of binge-eating disorder, the individual must experience a lack of control over eating and marked distress regarding binge-eating, and she must binge an average of 2 days per week for 6 months. This disorder is distinguished from obesity--defined as weighing 20% or greater than ideal body weight--in that obesity is not associated with the same degree of lack of control, self-anger, shame, and frustration as binge eating.