According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, compulsive overeating disorder—more commonly called binge eating disorder—is the most common of all eating disorders. It affects more than 3 percent of Americans.
People with compulsive eating disorder eat unusually large amounts of food rapidly when they are not hungry, eat until they are uncomfortably full, and feel that their eating is out of control. They often eat alone because they are embarrassed about the amount of food they eat and feel disgusted, depressed or guilty after overeating.
People with compulsive overeating disorder should get help from a mental health care professional. Several types of treatment are available that focus on changing behavior, managing obesity and improving self-esteem.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
According to the American Psychological Association, eating disorder experts believe that binge eating is best treated by traditional eating disorder approaches. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps patients improve their self-esteem and body acceptance, change unhealthy eating behaviors, and manage stressful situations better.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy
Interpersonal psychotherapy helps people understand their relationships with spouses, family and friends and make changes to problem areas. Eating disorder experts, according to the American Psychological Association, advocate psychotherapy as a means of addressing the psychological aspects of compulsive overeating disorder before tacking the problem of obesity.
Drug Therapy
Medications, such as antidepressants, may be helpful for some people. Anti-seizure medications have also been used effectively to treat compulsive overeating disorder. Drug therapy has been shown to benefit weight management and promote weight loss.
Combination Therapy
Combining drug and behavioral therapy has shown promising results for treating overweight and obese individuals with binge eating disorder. Drug therapy has been shown to benefit weight management and promote weight loss while behavioral therapy has been shown to improve the psychological components of binge eating. Exercise in combination with cognitive behavior therapy has also been effective.
Self-Guided Programs
According to a 2010 report by the National Institutes of Health, a 12-week, self-guided program to stop binge eating is effective in treating binge eating disorder. Participants were asked to read a book about overcoming binge eating that included a six-step program that used self-monitoring, self-control and problem-solving strategies. The participants also attended eight therapy sessions. Six months after completing the program, 74.5 percent of the participants were not binge eating. At the end of one year, 64.2 percent were not binge eating.
Weight Loss Surgery
Weight loss surgery, including gastric bypass, has been effective as a treatment for binge eating disorder. According to the American Psychological Association, bariatric experts believe that the obesity needs to be treated before treating the psychological problems.
