For individuals who consume large quantities of food at every sitting, even when they are not hungry, this is known as bingeing. Not only is the condition serious, but the complications that can arise from it are even more of a serious nature. That's why it is important for these individuals to seek binge eating treatment options.
Someone who is afflicted with this condition will uncontrollably eat massive quantities of food each and every time they sit down for a meal. They are never hungry enough to justify the enormous amount of foods that are consumed, but they are completely unable to control their appetite. When they eat, it is as if their body has been placed on "auto-pilot" without an ability to disable the action.
Since it is categorized as a compulsive disorder, it is unfair to assume that the individual has any control over their actions, nor that they possess the ability to change it. Once they are set into motion, they are powerless against the need to continue eating, even long after the body has reacted with a feeling of being full. As a result, these people are often overweight and even obese.
That's why it is imperative that individuals with this condition seek professional help. They must rely on outside intervention if the overpowering control is to be interrupted and treatment to be successful. There are two main ways for this to be achieved: medication and psychotherapy.
But researchers continue to disagree over which area of the problem should be addressed first: being overweight or learning to deal with the overeating compulsion. On one hand, treating the factors that allow the condition to consume its host means getting to the root of the problem so that it breaks the hold that food has over them. This means addressing fears, anxiety, depression, anger, resentment and any number of other feelings that allows the brain to shift from making rational decisions to being completely out of control.
There are those that feel that the weight issue itself should be taken care of first since this will inevitably lead to other complications. They feel that allowing the individual to continue consuming huge amounts of food puts them into deeper states of depression, which, in turn, helps the condition to repeat itself.
Regardless of which direction of binge eating treatment is taken, there has been phenomenal success achieved with certain medications. Psychotherapy has also brought very favorable results and in some instances it has been necessary to combine both in order to help the individual.
