Do you often try to follow a diet, but unable to control how much you eat?

If you answered Yes, you may be eligible to join the other 4 million Americans who suffer from “binge eating disorder”. Binge eating disorder, commonly considered as compulsive eating or emotional eating, is by far the most common eating disorder. Due to one study, binge eating disorder presents about 75% of all eating disorders, with bulimia and anorexia making up the remaining 25%.

A great amount of who look for help for food compulsivity address to some form of psychotherapy, the assumption being that overeating is a way of “medicating” or “tranquilizing” for emotional discomfort. While anyone who has experienced this condition knows that it surely feels like it is emotional in origin, it is essential to note that talk therapy has failed to produce much, if any, relief from the compulsion.

What if the cause of compulsive eating is not entirely psychological or emotional in origin? What if some other variable is making major influence? Again, what we know for sure is that talk therapy, alone, has failed to create relief from food addiction.

It is interest that “binge eating disorder” is defined in The Psychological and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, which is the diagnostic “bible” for psychological conditions) as follows:
Recurrent episodes of eating what others would regard as an abnormally large amount of food. 
Frequent feelings of being unable to manage what or how much is being eaten.
At least three of the following behaviors or feelings:
- Eating much more quickly than usual.
- Eating until uneasily full.
- Eating large amounts of food, even when not hungry.
- Eating alone out of embarrassment at the amount of food being eaten.
- Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.
No purging behavior exists as with bulimia nervosa.

People who have experienced this food compulsivity or food addiction or emotional eating know this. There is an emotional discomfort. The thought of food, almost always something sweet or bready or starchy, exists in your mind. And the next thought is certainly goes something like, “If I could only have ___ (fill in the blank with YOUR favorite food), I would not feel so nervous.” Unfortunately, this thought will not go away. As a final point, the food is consumed, and relief from the emotional discomfort is at least reduced, at least during consumption. Such behavior is similar to the manner in which an alcoholic use alcohol to heal of the pain life presents.