Definitions for Binge Eating and Anorexia

Binge Eating:

Binge eating disorder is characterized by compulsive overeating in which people consume huge amounts of food while feeling out of control and powerless to stop. The symptoms of binge eating disorder usually begin in late adolescence or early adulthood, often after a major diet. A binge eating episode typically lasts around two hours, but some people binge on and off all day long. Binge eaters often eat even when they’re not hungry and continue eating long after they’re full. They may also gorge themselves as fast as they can while barely registering what they’re eating or tasting.

 People with binge eating disorder struggle with feelings of guilt, disgust, and depression. They worry about what the compulsive eating will do to their bodies and beat themselves up for their lack of self-control. They desperately want to stop binge eating, but feel like they can’t.

The Cycle:
 Binge eating may be comforting for a brief moment, but then reality sets back in, along with regret and self-loathing. Binge eating often leads to weight gain and obesity, which only reinforces compulsive eating. The worse a binge eater feels about themself and their appearance, the more they use food to cope. It becomes a vicious cycle: eating to feel better, feeling even worse, and then turning back to food for relief.

Behavioral Symptoms:

• Inability to stop eating or control what you’re eating
• Rapidly eating large amounts of food
• Eating even when you’re full
• Hiding or stockpiling food to eat later in secret
• Eating normally around others, but gorging when you’re alone
• Eating continuously throughout the day, with no planned mealtimes

Emotional Symptoms:

• Feeling stress or tension that is only relieved by eating
• Embarrassment over how much you’re eating
• Feeling numb while bingeing—like you’re not really there or you’re on auto-pilot.
• Never feeling satisfied, no matter how much you eat
• Feeling guilty, disgusted, or depressed after overeating
• Desperation to control weight and eating habits 

 (Copied from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/binge_eating_disorder.htm)


Anorexia:

Anorexia is a life-threatening eating disorder that is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. The disorder is diagnosed when a person weighs at least 15 percent less than his or her normal body weight. Extreme weight loss in people with anorexia can lead to dangerous health problems and even death.
The term anorexia literally means "loss of appetite." However, this definition is misleading as people with anorexia are often hungry but refuse food anyway. People with anorexia have intense fears of becoming fat and sees themselves as fat even when they are very slender. These individuals may try to correct this perceived "flaw" by strictly limiting food intake and exercising excessively in order to lose weight.

Symptoms:

• Rapid weight loss over several weeks or months
• Continuing to diet even when thin or when weight is very low
• Having an unusual interest in food, calories, nutrition or cooking
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Strange eating habits or routines, such as eating in secret
• Feeling fat, even if underweight
• Inability to realistically assess one’s own body weight
• Striving for perfection and being very self-critical
• Undue influence of body weight or shape on self-esteem
• Depression, anxiety, or irritability
• Infrequent or irregular menstrual periods in females
• Laxative, diuretic, or diet pill use
• Frequent illness
• Wearing loose clothing to hide weight loss
• Compulsive exercising
• Feeling worthless or hopeless
• Social withdrawal
• Physical symptoms that develop over time, including: low tolerance of cold weather, brittle hair and nails, dry or yellowing skin, anemia, constipation, swollen joints and a new growth of thin hair over the body

(Copied from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/anorexia_nervosa/hic_anorexia_nervosa.aspx)