Compulsive Overeating

[No game 14,437]

Must go and live life today..

Including getting blood tests to show everything is good and in track

But I wanted to put this out there..

This is me. I'm doing well, but this is me

I have OCD and it may make things a little more challenging at times..

Thank you for indulging me

Compulsive overeating, also sometimes called food addiction, is characterized by the compulsive eating of food. Professionals address this with either a behavior therapy model or a food-addiction model.[1]

An individual suffering from compulsive overeating engages in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binge eating, during which she or he may feel frenzied or out of control, often consuming food past the point of being comfortably full. Bingeing in this way is generally followed by feelings of guilt and depression. Unlike individuals with bulimia, compulsive overeaters do not attempt to compensate for their bingeing with purging behaviors such as fasting, laxative use, or vomiting. Compulsive overeaters will typically eat when they are not hungry. Their obsession is demonstrated in that they spend excessive amounts of time and thought devoted to food, and secretly plan or fantasize about eating alone. Compulsive overeating usually leads to weight gain and obesity, but is not the only cause of obesity. While compulsive overeaters tend to be overweight or obese, persons of normal or average weight can also be affected.

In addition to binge eating, compulsive overeaters can also engage in grazing behavior, during which they return to pick at food throughout the day. These things result in a large overall number of calories consumed even if the quantities eaten at any one time may be small. When a compulsive eater overeats primarily through bingeing, he or she can be said to have binge eating disorder.

Signs and symptoms

Binge eating, or eating uncontrollably even when not physically hungry

Eating much more rapidly than normal

Eating alone due to shame and embarrassment

Feelings of guilt due to overeating

Preoccupation with body weight

Depression or mood swings

Awareness that eating patterns are abnormal

Rapid weight gain or sudden onset of obesity

Significantly decreased mobility due to weight gain

History of weight fluctuations

Withdrawal from activities because of embarrassment about weight

History of many different unsuccessful diets

Eating little in public, but maintaining a high body weight

Very low self-esteem and feeling need to eat greater and greater amounts.

Addiction

During binges, compulsive overeaters may consume from 5,000 to 15,000 food calories daily, resulting in a temporary release from psychological stress through an addictive high not unlike that experienced through drug abuse. In bulimics, this high may be intensified by the act of purging. Researchers have speculated there is an abnormality of endorphin metabolism in the brain of binge eaters that triggers the addictive process. This is in line with other theories of addiction that attribute it not to avoidance of withdrawal symptoms, but to a primary problem in the reward centers of the brain. For the compulsive overeater, the ingestion of trigger foods causes release of the neurotransmitter, serotonin. This could be another sign of neurobiological factors contributing to the addictive process. Abstinence from addictive food and food eating processes causes withdrawal symptoms in those with eating disorders. There may be higher levels of depression and anxiety due to the decreased levels of serotonin in the individual.[2]

There are complexities with the biology of compulsive eating that separate it from a pure substance abuse analogy. Food is a complex mixture of chemicals that can affect the body in multiple ways, which is magnified by stomach-brain communication. In some ways, it may be much more difficult for compulsive overeaters to recover than drug addicts. There is an anecdotal saying among Overeaters Anonymous members that "when you are addicted to drugs you put the tiger in the cage to recover; when you are addicted to food you put the tiger in the cage, but take it out three times a day for a walk."[2]

The physical explanation of compulsive overeating may be attributed to an overeaters' increased tendency to secrete insulin at the sight and smell of food, though medical evidence supporting this is controversial.[3] Research has found a link between the sugar and fat content of foods and bingeing behaviors.[4]

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

It's funny hearing that you have OCD....The underlying issue under OCD is anxiety! Yep, we are a major stress bomb and we get caught up in the underlying issues that contribute to our stress...and anxiety is mostly caused by our thoughts.....Having said this, it's difficult to recognize the automatic negative thoughts that we have on a daily basis.....This is work for us, identifying the trigger points for our anxiety that triggers our need to control our environment, to decrease our anxiety. It's a vicious cycle......Sorry, I am a Marriage and Family Therapist and I can make this sound so easy, but in reality, it's not, it's very convoluted.........

[No game 14,437]

Lol welcome to my crazy!!

My son has OCD also.. And Tourette's it's actually the OCD that can be more debilitating most times for him.

[Chimera 644]

<---Shares the same crazy

Great post - thank you Laura! I love the tiger analogy - so true.

Not true for all folks - but medication definitely helps me with in my own ongoing struggles with anxiety/ptsd and compulsive behaviors. I think I realized a few years ago that this will always be with me, and dealing with it will always be a part of me and my (and my family's) life. Sometimes I get pretty sad - wishing that it was just gone - thinking how much easier life would be...

I just get worn out - its exhausting.

[No game 14,437]

Medications! Yes..

I have the worst relationship with those.

I take them.. And I kinda stop and or "forget" sometimes...

That's a whole new thread.. My thought process about that

[marfar7 1,533]

I want to add 1 more symptom of compulsive overeating: Thinking about food constantly.

I thought having wls would cure my obsession with food. it's actually made it worse. While I can only take a few bites of any given meal, I'm already thinking about my next meal. Not sure how to lose that obsession (short of psych therapy).

I'd like to only think about food when I'm hungry...

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

I wonder what the connection is between binge or compulsive eating and OCD. I know several people who have been diagnosed with both...

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

And meds compliance! Those same people go through periods where they are convinced that they can just stop their meds.

[RJ'S/beginning 5,358]

I have OCD as well....it is a horrible thing to deal with...It has everything to do with anxiety but it also has to do with control....Having power over something! And yet all of us on here were powerless over food....Contradiction in terms I would say...

Or did we just chose our power to take and let other things slide that were not so painful..After all food is a temporary solution to pain and suffering...So deep eh!

[Healthier2day1227 326]

Lol welcome to my crazy!! <br>

My son has OCD also.. And Tourette's it's actually the OCD that can be more debilitating most times for him.

That's interesting, my son has Tourette's too. It's very manageable with his meds but poor kid, before he was officially diagnosed and treated his twitches, tics and sounds were very distracting. He's been medicated since he was 9 and we are very happy with the results. Interesting because I don't know anyone else who has it.

[AmandaRaeLeo 2,146]

Ditto that with OCD, a form called Pure O, and being a compulsive overeater.

It can be all consuming.

[No game 14,437]

That's interesting, my son has Tourette's too. It's very manageable with his meds but poor kid, before he was officially diagnosed and treated his twitches, tics and sounds were very distracting. He's been medicated since he was 9 and we are very happy with the results. Interesting because I don't know anyone else who has it.

You'd be surprised how prevalent it is..

We were lucky in the sense he had a very quick diagnosis.

And usually comes with "co-morbids" Like OCD

Or ADHD..

His neurologist told us years ago the OCD would most likely be the the thing that needs medication over the Tourette's..

He actually isn't medicated at the moment.

He mostly just has complicated body movements. He has an ability to mask them a bit at school but let's them down when he comes home. For the most part that is..

He does have weeks when they are just bad.

The medication changes him and he doesn't like it..

He is a awesome unique kid. Don't get me started I can wax poetic about him for days!!

[Mkak 251]

Ditto that with OCD, a form called Pure O, and being a compulsive overeater. It can be all consuming.

Yes, yes, and yes to all consuming. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed something about food, weight, exercise, etc. is on my mind. Has been for as long as I can remember. Exhausting.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

OCD here, no doubt.

[Indigo1991 1,612]

Where does being a control freak sit with being a compulsive eater? I have always felt the two have gone together for me.

I don't mean a control freak as in someone who likes to be in charge, I mean as in always trying to ensure the "right" outcome whatever the scenario and being angryand/ or devestated if I couldn't do that. But I couldn't exert that degree of control or influence over my eating. Think the more I ate compulsively, the more my control freakery ratcheted up...

Maybe not surprisingly since my sleeve, I feel more relaxed about everything, less of a nippy sweetie. People have commented on my more "laissez faire" attitude about everything and I don't have the voice in my head telling me to fix everything any more...

Mad, eh???!!!!