Weekly troubles with binge eating

Binge eating is a fairly "new" eating disorder, people that binge typically fall into two categories: those that are overweight and have fallen pray to the diet-binge yo-yo cycle and those that eat to cover for some other internal need, such as depression. The recommended treatment is as follows:

Researchers and therapists have identified four treatments options that seem to be effective in the treatment of BED. The include medications, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), behavioral weight loss therapy, and interpersonal therapy. Medication treatment involves antidepressant drugs SSRIs, which lessen the effects of dysphoric mood and thus alleviate the symptoms of BED. CBT has been proven to be the most effective and widely used form of therapy for BED sufferers. CBT focuses on teaching people to overcome impulses to binge eat and start to think about food in a different way. Self-monitoring therapy is a subset of CBT that takes the patient through several stages and encourages them to review their progress on a weekly basis. Studies confirm that CBT combined with some form of medication is the best recipe for treating BED and having an improved chance (of) recovery.(http://www.brainphysics.com/binge-eating.php)

The good news is that there is a "cure," it just requires effort and hard work. Since you are in college look into therapy on campus, this way you get the help you need without breaking the bank.

So glad you found the site.

Let me know how the road to beating this goes.

-CK

CK,

Thanks for taking the time to look at my situation. The treatments you listed are definitely interesting. I'm not sure which "category" I would fall into. I am at a healthy weight of 150 now that I've lost my weight and don't consider myself depressed. I did recently just break up with a girlfriend and while it did have an emotional impact on me, it was most certainly not big enough to lead me to depression (we had only been dating for 3 months).

The CBT is something I may look at. I don't think drugs are the answers to my problem, and I do believe my campus offers therapy sessions for free to students. Since this is my last semester, I certainly will want to take advantage of that if it comes down to it.

The thing that hurts me the most is that my support group in real-life situations for binge eating is minimal. Most of the time I am with other people and I binge eat, I usually don't do it alone. I tell these people that I'm trying to stop my behavior, but they see that I've lost so much weight and that I need to "put on some more pounds". This includes both my friends and family. I like the way I look; I have a lot of energy and lean muscle and haven't been losing any more weight, but my peers keep pushing me to eat more unhealthy foods.

Sorry for this novel, if I go to a therapy session I will definitely bring up these feelings. Thanks again