Some sufferers of binge-eating disorder (BED) engage in chaotic or bizarre eating behaviors such as gorging on food straight out of cans or taken from the trash, according to a new study published in the journal Behavioral Medicine. Researchers also found that negative emotions -- such as depression, guilt and shame -- rather than hunger, were the strongest contributing factors to chaotic eating behaviors.
"We found this surprising," said UAB research psychologist Mary Hagan, Ph.D., who directed the study. "We knew people who were forced into a state of semi-starvation showed these chaotic eating behaviors, but negative emotions are apparently enough to send BED sufferers, who are nowhere near starvation, into these behaviors." Unlike bulimics, BED sufferers don't purge. Approximately 4 million adults have BED.
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
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