Mental Health Project: Binge-Eating Disorder

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Table of Contents

Origins
Characteristics
What are the DSM-IV-TR and the DSM-V?
How does the DSM-IV-TR describe the mental illness?
What famous person deals with the disorder you researched?
References

Origins

In the United States, binge-eating disorder is the most prevalent among other eating disorders. The disorder is not age-specific and it affects all age groups; however, it is most common among adults and teenagers. Individuals with this disorder consume abnormally huge amounts of food within a short time. Additionally, after eating such unusual amounts of food, these individuals often feel guilt and loss of control over their bingeing episodes. According to research, it was Albert Stunkard, a psychiatrist, who first took note of the disorder in 1959 (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). During this time, Stunkard described a type of eating disorder characterized by eating huge amounts of food at inconsistent intervals. Among the elements he noted about the disorder is that it included night-eating episodes.

After a while, the term binge-eating became widely used for research purposes. Around 1987, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), referred to binge-eating (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). During this period, the categorization of this disorder was under the features and criteria of bulimia. The reason for this categorization was because bulimia has the characteristics of a series of purging and bingeing episodes. The APA, in 1994, listed binge-eating in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). During this time, it was still under bulimia and therefore, it was not a disorder that stood on its own and therefore, was an EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified).

With its mention in the DSM and its categorization as an EDNOS, binge-eating constantly gained attention. The result was the start of the Binge-Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), a non-profit organization (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). The main role of the organization was to advocate, support, and help the binge-eating disorder society. The APA, in 2013, revised its DSM-IV and released the DSM-V, which categorized binge-eating as a disorder on its own (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). With this development, people could finally get treatment for the disorder under their medical cover. Additionally, the disorder also gained legitimacy, which means that medical providers could now take it as a serious illness.

Characteristics

Since its recognition as an official disorder, there are several characteristics distinct to binge-eating. One of the characteristics of the disorder is that it is associated with eating large food quantities within a short period. The short time is usually eating food within over two hours (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). Individuals, in this case, generally feel that they cannot control their eating habits. Additionally, people with binge-eating disorders eat until they feel uncomfortably full. The reason for this is that they eat even when they do not feel hungry or when they are full. They continue this habit at different periods during the day and in some cases, at the night.

The other characteristic of this disorder includes eating in secrete or alone. The reason they do so is that they normally feel ashamed of their eating habits. As a result, this causes these individuals to develop depression, guilt, or maybe upset. They, therefore, engage in activities such as dieting to lose weight. These weight loss activities generally do not work because the individual may not lose weight. Unlike other people with other disorders such as bulimia, individuals with binge-eating disorders do not compensate for the excess calories by exercising excessively, using laxatives, and vomiting. Additionally, if these individuals restrict their diet, the result would be continued binge-eating.

Some of the characteristics of the disorder are the factors that may increase its development. One of these factors includes family history, which may explain that the disease may be genetically transmitted. According to research, there is a strong connection between family members who had or have the disorder and children who have binge-eating disorder (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). The other characteristic of binge-eating disorder is that it is prevalent in individuals who have a history of dieting. Studies demonstrate that restricting calories or dieting at particular periods may activate a desire to binge eat, particularly when an individual suffers from depression Cite). Additionally, those individuals with binge-eating disorders usually have psychological issues.

What are the DSM-IV-TR and the DSM-V?

DSM-IV-TR offers criterion sets for diagnostics to help guide a medical practitioner towards the right diagnosis. DSM-IV-TR is an extra segment dedicated to differential diagnosis if individuals meet the criteria for diagnostic for at least two disorders (Guerdjikova et al., 2017). The purpose of this data is to aid the practitioner to ascertain which specific mental disorder is present. DSM-IV-TR is important in identifying a specific pathology and therefore, the clinician would propose a distinct treatment. Nevertheless, DSM-IV-TR generally fails in this objective, notwithstanding the best attempts of the major researchers and clinicians who developed the document. The document is; however, essential in providing a guideline is diagnosing mental disorders.

The DSM-V is an update of the DSM-IV-TR manual on the guidelines of how to deal with mental disorders. The DSM-V is a product of more than ten years of research from major researchers and clinicians in every aspect of mental health (Peters & Matson, 2019). Because of their hard work and dedication, the mental health sectors now have an authoritative manual that classifies and defines mental disorders to enhance research, treatment, and diagnoses. Researchers and clinicians utilize the manual to classify and diagnose mental disorders by exploiting its explicit and concise criteria. The purpose of the criterion is to assess symptom presentations in different clinical environments such as primary care, consultation-liaison, outpatient, and inpatient.

There are some notable changes that the DSM-V includes that the DSM-IV-TR does not have. One of these changes is how it categorizes substance abuse. In the DSM-IV-TR, there are two categories of substance abuse disorder; substance dependence and substance abuse (Peters & Matson, 2019). On the other hand, the DSM-V combines these classifications into one and provides one diagnosis. Furthermore, in the DSM-IV, substance abuse disorder was under legal issues. After its revision, the DMS-V removed the classification and replaced it with a strong urge or desire or craving to use a substance. Additionally, there was the removal of the diagnosis and physiological subtypes of polysubstance dependence.

How does the DSM-IV-TR describe the mental illness?

DSM-IV-TR describes the binge-eating disorder in six different and distinct criteria. The first category is criterion one and specifically defines binge-eating as recurrent episodes. In this case, the disorder is characterized by eating at a distinct time; generally within roughly two hours (Peters & Matson, 2019). Secondly, this criterion is characterized by a lack of control over food consumed during any given time. The second category is criterion two which is marked by roughly three characteristics. In this case, an individual eats more than usual, may feel uncomfortable as a result of over eating, may eat huge amounts of food even when full, and has feelings of depression or disgust with oneself.

DSM-IV-TR further describes a binge-eating disorder in the third stage known as criterion three. Here the individual starts to realize that they may have a problem with eating. These people start to develop distress as a result of this realization. However, in this case, they may not fully realize that they may have a problem. They may continue in their habits of overeating for several days before admitting that they have a problem. The fourth classification for binge-eating disorder, according to the DSM-IV-TR, is the fourth criterion. Here, the manual describes the condition as a situation where an individual eats large amounts of food for at least two days a week for six months.

The fifth step involves the relationship between binge-eating and other compensatory behaviors. The step is known as criterion five and according to the manual, binge-eating is not associated with inappropriate compensatory behaviors. In this case, individuals do not engage in such habits as exercising, fasting, or purging. Moreover, when an individual becomes overweight, such inappropriate behaviors do not help them lose weight. Finally, DSM-IV-TR does not have a sixth stage, which was one of the adjustments made in the DSM-V. All these criteria are essential in diagnosing mental health disorders. Researchers and clinicians can identify and provide specific medications for the disease once diagnosed using the DSM-IV-TR.

What famous person deals with the disorder you researched?

Several famous people are dealing with binge-eating disorders. I researched Candace Camerone Bure, an American talk show panelist, author, producer, and actress. The actress admitted that he developed an eating disorder after taking a break from her acting role. During this time, because she was mostly lonely, she developed an unhealthy relationship with food. Bure admits that because she was no longer working, she had a lot of time in her hand with nothing to do. The unhealthy behavior started slowly until she found herself developing a binge-eating pattern. She did not realize that she was developing this habit until it became apparent to her that she was gaining weight.

At a particular point, Bure started showing the signs and symptoms of binge-eating. In this case, she admits that she started feeling shameful concerning her eating patterns. Because she was guilty about her habits, she hid her habit from family and friends. The situation was followed by purging to ensure that she did not gain any more weight. Her condition continued until she was caught by one of her family members. At this point, she decided to stop because she felt disappointed with herself. She admitted that she could not control herself and could not stop eating even when she was full.

After being caught, she decided to stop for a given period. However, a few years later, she found herself back into her old habits. The condition became worse the second time and was unable to control it. Bure’s reason to stop, in the first case, was to please her family member. She admits that she was bound by the disorder and she felt that it controlled her. As a result, she was more depressed and felt helpless. The first time, she had no proper tools to combat the disorder. The second time, she set a new goal that involved stopping the habit for her good. Bure attributed her disorder to emotional issues and was able to stop when she was introduced to the right people who helped her through the situation.

References

Guerdjikova, A. I., Mori, N., Casuto, L. S., & McElroy, S. L. (2017). Binge eating disorder. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 40(2), 255-266.

Peters, W. J., & Matson, J. L. (2019). Comparing rates of diagnosis using DSM-IV-TR versus DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorder.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(6), 1898-1906.

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