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Treatment for Binge Eating and Depression from St. Louis Area Dietitians - Get Outpatient Help and Experience Recovery

The link between binge eating and depression:

Fridge Installation

The connection is certainly complex as each condition can influence the other.

 Young Woman Contemplating

Causes:

The causes can include emotional eating as a coping mechanism, which can result in binge eating as it temporarily decreases sadness or anxiety but often leads to feelings of guilt and shame after engaging in the behavior. Both behaviors involve dysregulation in brian pathways related to reward and mood deregulation. Furthermore, the person struggling often has low self esteem and poor body image which can only exacerbate the symptoms.

Psychotherapy Session

Depression and Binge Eating Treatment:

Get outpatient medical nutrition therapy to overcome depression and binge eating from expert eating disorder dietitians in the St. Louis Area. Our treatment is available online or in person.

Buffet

The difference between binge eating (BED) and overeating:

While distinct in characteristics, BED is recognized in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders) as having recurrent episodes of binge eating at least once a week for 3 months, while overeating is not classified as a formal disorder in the DSM-5, but generally refers to consuming more food than the body needs, typically on an occasional basis. In short, BED involves lack of control and consuming large quantities of food regularly whereas overeating involves occasional overconsumption without a persistent sense of loss of control.

Symptoms of Binge Eating

  • Eating a large amount of food within a discrete time period. 

  • Feeling a lack of control over eating during the episodes. 

  • Eating much more rapidly than normal

  • Eating until feel uncomfortably full 

  • Eating alone due to embarrassment about the quantity of food consumes 

  • Eating large amounts when not hungry 

  • Feeling disgusted with oneself 

  • Feeling depressed or guilty after overeating 

  • Episodes occur at least once a week for 3 months

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