BED – Not The Kind For Sleeping
Many people carry extra weight and some of us have an eating disorder, which is a mental health diagnosis. I know about eating disorders, from both a personal and professional (licensed professional clinical counselor) point of view. For the first half of my life I was a closet eater — I knew I was a sneak eater, and I knew I ate to the point of physical distress, but I didn’t know until recently that I had a binge eating disorder.
The mental health description of “binge eating disorder” includes the following, with my personal confessions in brackets:
- Eating a large amount of food in a short period of time [Yes, I could pack it away.]
- Lack of control over eating during the binge episode [In the midst of a binge, I would demand my hand to stop shoving cookies into my mouth, but it wouldn’t stop.]
- Eating until uncomfortably full [I would eat so much that my stomach ached intensely … chew a few Pepto-Bismols … curl up in a fetal position until the pain subsided … then I’d get up and gorge some more.]
- Eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry [I know I ate because of emotional, not physical, hunger.]
- Eating much more rapidly than normal [I inhaled my food.]
- Eating alone because you are embarrassed by how much you’re eating [I always preferred eating alone because I was the supreme dieter in public but in the private binger -- I could pack it away without others having the slightest notion of the vast quantity of food I’d consume.]
- Feeling disgusted, depressed, or guilty after overeating [Yes, yes, yes! I was often all three. That’s why I became a closet eater in the first place.]
Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the US, affecting over 8 million adults. Although BED is similar to bulimia, the binge eater doesn’t purge but retains the calories and, therefore, is almost always overweight.
Living with BED is hell, and help is available.
If you or someone you love suffers from BED, my book Stop Eating Your Heart Out: The 21-Day Program to Free Yourself from Emotional Eating is a first step.
In addition, many resources are listed, such as:
Academy for Eating Disorders 847-498-4274 www.aedweb.org
The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness 866-662-1235 www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com
Binge Eating Disorder Association 855-855-2332 www.bedaonline.org
Eating Disorder Information.com www.eating-disorder-information.com
Eating Disorder Recovery http://www.eatingdisorderrecovery.com
Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center 858-792-7463 www.edreferral.com
Eating Disorders Coalition 202-543-9570 www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org
Eating Disorders Information Network (EDIN) 404-816-3346 www.myedin.org
Eating Disorders Online.com 310-476-4924 www.eatingdisordersonline.com
Eating Disorders Treatment 866-575-8179 www.eating-disorder.com
The Gail R. Schoenbach F.R.E.E.D. Foundation (For Recovery and the Elimination of Eating Disorders) www.freedfoundation.org
Health at Every Size (HAES) www.haescommunity.org
MentorConnect www.mentorconnect-ed.org
National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) 866-633-4220 www.nedic.ca
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) 206-382-3587 www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
Recovery Resources Online 877-284-0353 www.soberrecovery.com
Something Fishy 866-690-7239 www.something-fishy.org
Image from http://www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com/BED
About Meryl BeckMeryl Hershey Beck is often referred to as “the Ambassador of Joy.” This wasn’t always the case as she spent the first half of her life in the utter hell of a binge eating disorder. As a licensed counselor, Meryl now joyfully shares tools of recovery with her clients and in her book, STOP EATING YOUR HEART OUT: The 21-Day Program to Free Yourself from Emotional Eating. Meryl teaches you ways to break the chains of emotional eating as you transform your relationship with food and enjoy the freedom of living the authentic, joy-filled life you were meant to live.
wow, such wonderful information here. Your post will undoubtedly help many people!
Thanks, Karen!
Thanks for all the information about BED, Meryl, and sharing your story. All the resources you've shared will surely help anyone with this disorder.
Thanks, Alexandra. I hope the message will get to the people who so desperately need it. Eating disorders have the highest mortality of any mental health diagnosis (even depression!).
I had a sister who died because of anoraxia; her body gave up some day. this information would have helped her so much. Hope you will reach many, many people because there are so many that need help…thanks!!
Thanks, Olga. I just wrote in a reply, "Eating disorders have the highest mortality of any mental health diagnosis (even depression!)." I am so sorry for your loss.
Meryl, you have presented such valuable and important information. Thank you for sharing all of these resources and your own story about BED.
Thank you for sharing. I know it's very common problem and I am so glad that you got help and share you story!
Thanks, Barbara. I hope more and more ED people get the help they so desperately need.
Thank you for sharing all the resources. Not many people understand eating disorders and how it is a mental issue. It's a mental condition that can take your life!
Thanks, Elizabeth. Yes, it can take your life. I wrote the following comment, "Eating disorders have the highest mortality of any mental health diagnosis (even depression!)."
Dear Meryl,
It is very courageous of you to share your personal story here. What you are talking about could apply to any addiction — food, alcohol, love, work — it all comes from an emptiness inside that is yearning to be filled. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks, Laurie. Yes, it is an emptiness that some fill with food, others go to drugs or booze. For me, I use God…light….love….energy to fill any emptiness.
I had no idea! This is fascinating information. I can't imagine liking to eat alone. That would be my first clue that something was wrong because I find sharing a meal to be a very social necessity. I'm really clueless when it comes to eating disorders. I am really aware of that fact after reading this post.
Thanks for your comments, Martha. Yes eating disorders are awful and have the highest mortality of any mental health diagnosis. During my illness, I was so embarrassed by the quantity I could consume, that I looked foreword to being able to eat what I wanted, when I wanted in private!
Great list of resources.
Fantastic information, I am going to tweet it!
Thanks, Mollie!
What honesty Meryl. You tell it like it is and anyone who has these symptoms will be greatly helped by the fact that you have been through it. As you know I had my own battles with alcohol which was hard, but a food disorder is in my eyes so much more difficult to overcome. I can choose not to take a drink today. I can avoid places that serve alcohol. But not so with food. Food is everywhere. Temptation is everywhere. And you have to eat to live.
Thank you such an informative post!
Thanks, Carolyn. What I heard in 12 step meetings: the alcoholic puts the tiger in the cage and throws away the key. The foodaholic (my term), puts the tiger in the cage and has to let it out 3 times a day….and get it back in….without getting scratched!
So much great information here. I too had eating disorders — anorexia for 1 year and bulimia for 11, ages 16-28. It's been almost 30 years since my last binge and purge, and it was reading a short piece in Newsweek Magazine about the binge and purge syndrome (I think that's what it was called then) and one woman's share of what she did to recover. Information is power. Thank you for your book and blog and doing so much to help others find their way out.
Thanks so much, Lisa. I appreciate your words; I appreciate you and all the good work you are doing.
This is great information Meryl from both perspectives, personal and professional. I truly think that when one has experienced these things themselves, their understanding of what it's like to live this way is at a core level. With this experience and understanding I believe it allows one to better help others. It's the difference between 'book learning' and 'experiential learning', a whole different level of comprehension. Keep up the great work, it's vitally important.
What great information and resources about BED, Meryl! Thank you for sharing your experiences, too. BED can connect with feelings of guilt and shame and can be very destructive. Some people may not reach out or know how too. You have listed such awesome support links. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing this Meryl. You are very generous, people really need help. Eating disorders are very hard to deal with and the health is what makes people live their lives to the fullest.
Great resources, Meryl. Thanks for the post.
This is so important to know. Thank you for sharing such vital information. I work with teen girls and healthy eating and healthy body image is something that is always on my mind.
Thank you, for sharing your story, Meryl as well as that valuable information for those suffering with BED to get help.
There is so much more information shared today than when I was growing up … and I'm sure some of my friends were exhibiting the behaviors you mention in your articles. But I realize that information alone isn't the solution, it has to get through the wall of pain that's causing the behavior in the first place in order to be useful. Thanks for doing the invaluable work you do, Meryl!
Great information! Thanks for sharing and your story. You are doing great thing Meryl.