• December 8, 2023

Eating is essential to live actively and healthily, but doing so in excess is not synonymous with health and wellbeing, on the contrary, this situation may be indicative of an eating disorder that identifies the patient as a compulsive eater.

People living with this disorder are identified because they change their Feeding Habits in a radical way; the amount of food they consume increases excessively, and they usually do so at all times.

This change in behavior extends to changing the social customs of the individual, compulsive eaters tend to separate themselves from the people they used to frequent, such as friends, family and even the couple, "the report states.psychologist Guillermina Sánchez.

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The specialist warns that in most cases, a compulsive eater has a prior emotional disturbance, perhaps because of a change of partner, the abandonment of parents, problems at school, among others, and this void in their emotional or emotional life it covers him eating more and more.

Eating makes them evade or forget a little about their problems. The complicated thing is that many people do not give it the importance it deserves, until these excesses trigger chronic degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension or arterial problems. "

Discover if you are a compulsive eater?

The psychologist Guillermina Sánchez suggests answering the following test, which helps detect if there is a risk of qualifying as a compulsive eater, if you obtain more than three positive responses it is advisable to request support from a specialist:

1. Do you eat when you are not hungry?

2. Do you have binge eating for no apparent reason?

3. Do you have feelings of guilt or remorse after overeating?

4. Do you spend too much time and attention on food?

5. Do you anticipate with pleasure and expectation the moments when you can be alone to eat?

6. Do you plan in advance the secret bingeings?

7. Do you eat with moderation in front of others and then compensate them when you are alone?

8. Is your weight affecting your way of life?

9. Have you tried to diet for a week or more if you have achieved your goal?

10. Do you resist other people's advice when they ask you to have the willpower to stop eating?

Self-knowledge is a vital element for the treatment of this type of disorders, because in this way it is possible to detect situations that compromise emotional well-being and to be alert to request timely support from both the family and health professionals.