Of all eating disorders, I’d say that binge eating disorder probably gets the least amount of press. 
(I suppose people simply assume that if you gorge yourself and don’t vomit, you’re simply a glutton rather than someone suffering from a legitimate mental illness.)
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) mentions these tidbits about binge eating disorder (or BED):

BED is an ED-NOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified) characterized by recurrent binge eating without the use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.  (In other words, it’s half of bulimia — all the bingeing, none of the purging behaviors.)
BED is characterized by frequently …read more

For men, it’s just not “cool” to have an eating disorder. 
I mean, it’s not exactly hip for gals, either, but when you hear of a female with an ED, you are more apt to think, “Oh, I’m not surprised.” 
But a guy… well, that’s just unusual.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), there are an estimated 1 million American males out there suffering from anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS and/or binge eating disorder. 
Honestly, though, I’ve never met a man with an eating disorder.  Never.  No anorexics, no bulimics.  None.
I’m wondering… have you?

This is fascinating news — a family in Canada claims that their son’s anorexia came about as the direct result of bullying by his peers.
According to an article published in Ontario’s Chatham Daily Times this morning, the elementary-school aged boy was taunted by peers about his weight.  He found old food in his desk, pieces of his lunches were stolen and the combined effect of the episodes left him so depressed that he went on a drastic “diet” and lost 60 pounds in a few months.
As any concerned family would do, his mum and dad looked for someone to blame, finally deciding that the fault lay …read more

I admit it.  I’m no longer a geek, at least not a techno one.  (Book smart, tech so-so.)  How do I know this?  I just recently found out about “Second Life“, the virtual 3D “world” where people can do just about anything they want — buy islands (using “linden”, the currency in “Second Life”), have affairs, raise families.
So it was with this fascinating knowledge that I began to muse — could there be a pro-ana contingent in “Second Life”?  Are there anorexics running around the virtual world, with skeletal avatars?  How about bulimics?  Or those with binge eating disorders?
If any …read more

It’s interesting to be an American.  On the one hand, education about eating disorders is out there for parents, educators and sufferers to see; on the other hand, we’re being told all the time that the obesity “epidemic” is at an all-time high and we really need to stop eating so much.
So which is it?  Or is it both?  Neither?  Has the media hyped both extremes?
Obviously, neither type of disorder is healthy.  Eating huge portions and rarely exercising is terrible for one’s body and soul; so, too, is restricting one’s diet to a few hundred calories per day (if that.) 
But are EDs …read more

Happy National Eating Disorders Awareness Week!  From February 24 – March 1, plenty of bloggers, media personnel and ED education and awareness advocates will be talking about anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, EDNOS and everything in between.
Without a doubt, it’s exciting and it’s wonderful to be living in an age where EDs are “out of the closet”, so to speak.
But there’s a little voice inside me that says, “So what?”
It’s not that I don’t support the purpose of the week; after all, I’m blogging about it just like everyone else.  My concern is what people DO with the week.  I’m …read more

Apparently, there’s a real New Jersey Devil out there, and it isn’t in the hockey rink or lurking in the backwoods… it’s in the laws surrounding heath insurance.
My amazing blogging colleague Alica (you visit her at Mental Health Notes) noted this week that a case involving eating disorders has hit the courts in the Garden State. 
Without getting too longwinded (links to two articles on this topic are noted below for your reading pleasure), the gist of the story goes something like this:
- Some NJ children (minors) with eating disorders need treatment, so their parents send them (or want to send them …read more

Is your lover named “ED”?  After perusing many poignant, honest blog entries, I’m seeing plenty of indications that having an eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia and/or binge eating disorder is much like carrying on an illicit love affair.
Consider how many of the same characteristics govern both situations:

Many people hide their EDs from even their closest relatives and partners just as they would a romantic affair.
Most ED sufferers are ashamed of what they have done just as they would be after engaging in a romantic affair.
EDs tend to skew one’s logic and turn one’s life topsy-turvy, just as happens during a romantic affair.
Women and men with EDs are often reluctant to “give …read more

Are eating disorders (EDs) a form of “slow” suicide?
It’s a question I had never considered before, until I began digging around for some information linking self-injurious behavior (e.g., cutting, self-mutilation, suicide) and anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating.
Turns out that there are some interesting factoids connecting EDs and suicide…
At ANRED (Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc.), it has been suggested that:

“Eating disorders frequently occur in combination with other problems [including] threats of suicide or suicide attempts; cutting, burning, hair pulling or other self-harm behaviors; rage attacks; placing oneself in dangerous situations; homicidal threats or attempts.”

The National Mental Health Association provides this …read more