Binge eating disorder is also referred to as compulsive eating disorder, due to the compulsive nature of the disease. A binge eater will eat uncommonly large amounts of food on a regular basis, including when he's not hungry. Many binge eaters hide food and binge alone. The affected individual will often try many diets and fail, and feel out of control and powerless regarding food. The Nemours Foundation website says "People with a binge eating problem may overeat when they feel stressed, upset, hurt, or angry." Several treatment options for binge eating disorders are available.
Medications
According to the Mayo Clinic's website, "There's no medication specifically designed to treat binge-eating disorder. But, several types of medication have been found to be helpful in reducing the symptoms of binge-eating disorder." The Mayo clinic list antidepressants, Topomax and Meridia as helpful drugs. Antidepressants might help you by influencing chemistry and mood, Meridia can suppress hunger which leads to weight loss and Topomax appears to reduce binge eating episodes, but the reasons are unknown. Any medication will include possible side effects, and should be used only when prescribed by a doctor.
Psychotherapy
Binge eating disorder is more than physical hunger. The disease has emotional and behavioral associations with food that can be alleviated with therapy. The Nemours Foundation says "Psychologists and other therapists can help people learn healthy ways of coping with emotions, thoughts, stress, and other things that might contribute to someone's eating problem." The Mayo Foundation says that a combination of medications and psychotherapy will most likely produce the best results for a cure.
Twelve-Step Programs
Twelve-step programs, which began with Alcoholics Anonymous, are fellowship groups that assist addicts in recovery. Two major binge eating disorder recovery programs exist. Both programs offer support by way of online support and physical meetings, literature, and the twelve steps and traditions that bring relief to the addict. Overeaters Anonymous does not offer a specific food plan, and says on the OA website, "We don't furnish diets, counseling services, hospitalization or treatment; nor does OA participate in or conduct research and training in the field of eating disorders." Instead, OA offers "unconditional acceptance and support through readily available OA meetings" and believes "we have a threefold illness--physical, emotional and spiritual." Food Addicts Anonymous, or FAA, is also a twelve-step program for compulsive binge eaters but believes that "food addiction is a bio-chemical disease. By following a food plan devoid of all addictive substances, we can recover. These substances include sugar, flour and wheat in all their forms. They also include fats and any other high-carbohydrate, refined, processed foods that cause us problems individually." FAA practices abstinence from these addictive substances, like an alcoholic abstains from alcohol, while OA members abstain from the actual act of compulsive overeating.
