Binge Eating Disorder

By Anam Tariq
 Introduction
• Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is commonly known by compulsive
overeating or consuming abnormal amounts of food while feeling
unable to stop and at loss of control.
 Diagnostic Criteria
Criterion A
Recurrent episodes of binge eating.
An episode of binge eating is characterised by the following
symptoms:
1. Eating in discrete period of time
2. Lack of control while eating
 Diagnostic Criteria
Criterion B
Binge eating episodes are associated with three or more symptoms
from the following:
1. Eating much more rapidly than normal.
2. Eating until feeling uncomfortably ill.
3. Eating large amount of food when not feeling physically hungry.
4. Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is
eating.
5. Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or very guilty afterward.
 Diagnostic Criteria
Criterion C
Duration:
• Binge eating occurs at least once a week for 3 months.
 Specifiers
The level of severity is based on frequency of episodes
of binge eating per week and according to this
distribution, level of severity may be:

 Mild: 1-3 episodes/week

 Moderate: 4-7 episodes/week
 Severe: 8-13 episodes/week
 Extreme: 14 or more episodes/week
 Differential Diagnosis
1. Bulimia nervosa: the recurrent inappropriate compensatory
behavior (purging, driven exercise) seen in bulimia nervosa is
absent in binge eating disorder.

2. Bipolar and depressive disorders: increased eating in depressive

disorders is not associated with the loss of control that exists in
binge eating disorder.