Binge

Hi friends!

I hope we are all have an absolutely lovely day, doing lovely things for ourselves and eating all the lovely foods our body so desires.

And, quite remarkably, that's a great segue into the topic of today's post.

Binge eating.

Now, ok, I know this is an extremely sensitive and confronting topic to a heck of a lot of not only teenage girls but a vast majority of people from all walks of life but I also know that it is also an extremely important topic that should not be tip-toed around. Instead it should be discussed and also accepted with the proper concern and acknowledgement that it requires.

Before I get into this too much further I feel it's my responsibility to add that I personally have never experienced binge-eating episodes or binge-eating disordered thoughts. Whilst I have had disordered thoughts around eating and exercising (restricting some of my favourite foods because I went on a shorter run that day etc.) I have never experienced the desire to eat and eat with little control to fill a void of some kind.

But because of that, I've been wanting to find out more and more about this disorder in order to understand what people I know go through and any people I meet in the future who might confide in me with the knowledge of my healthy eating obsession passion.

I know how infuriating it is to try and connect with someone who simply cannot understand why you do the things you do, I went through it myself. As a young teen I struggled with anxiety and depression and yet the people I tried to confide in simply placed me in the sad, typical teenager category. How can you express the darkness that bubbles, balloons and bursts inside of you at the most inconvenient times to someone who has never experienced it themselves. When you're trapped in a place that seems inescapable, trying to make someone else understand the struggle seems remarkably... futile.

So I've taken that anecdotal experience of my own in the pursuit to understand the battle advancing in a binge sufferers mind.

A common reaction people seem to have in regards to people who binge-eat is simply; 'Well, if you don't want to eat that much, don't eat it.' What a perfect solution for a perfect world.

Pity we don't live in a perfect world.

When someone's solution to mental disorders like depression, anxiety, anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating etc. is simply; 'Stop doing what your doing' cannot be any more outrageous, ludicrous, preposterous and any other word synonymous to ridiculous. It churns the contents of my stomach and leaves a prickly sensation on the back of my neck as I'm brought back to harder times.

A person who binges doesn't want to binge. A person who binges cannot control themselves when they spiral into the state they're in when they binge. A person who binges is not some food loving, craving, gluttonous pig. In fact most binge-eaters don't even taste the foods that they have the uncontrollable desire to ingest and possibly even dislike the foods they're eating. The food no longer becomes food, it becomes a symbol for something bigger, something with a lot more importance and history than a tub of ice cream could ever embody.

Boredom, distress, anger, anxiety... they're all triggers for binge eating and ultimately binge eating is used as a way to cope with challenging disorders. But I also feel like a sentence of that nature is entirely removed from the person at hand, labelling them a specimen in a scientific investigation. Sure, eating copious amounts of foods is undeniably linked to emotions and different triggers but it also goes even deeper than that and is incredibly different for every single person.

A person who eats 2 tubs of ice cream, a whole pizza, boxes of crackers and shapes and lollies and chocolates in one sitting, that person is not simply bored, or simply angry or even simply distressed. Placing your body through that amount of discomfort and pain must originate back from a central, core, underlying matter that is continually pushed deeper and deeper away into the darkness so no one will ever see it.

People see the small ice tip coming out of the ocean and call it boredom. Only the sufferer knows about the huge rest of the ice berg under the surface of the ocean that is simply too big to deal with and is thus numbed by the pain of too much food.

So what is my point exactly?

My point is not to jump to conclusions. not to judge someone based on the tip of the ice berg jutting out of the ocean. My point is not to make snap judgements on people who suffer from disorders that have so many inaccurate connotations built up from years of misinformed ideas and representations. I want people to know that if binge-eating is similar to depression (which I firmly believe it is) there is no way one can simply stop eating. I want these disorders to become more known, accepted and accurately represented, so we can work to fix the health of so many people in our world today.

That's my point.

And I'm definitely sure I've rambled on for long enough so with that, let me know your thoughts:

Have you ever suffered from binge-eating?
Are there points I have missed?
What other disorders do you believe require greater acknowledgement and accurate representations?

I know it's a bit of a heavier one today but be sure in the knowledge of an awesome recipe coming up on the blog soon!! you're certainly in for a treat! Have a fabulous day my friends, be kind to your bodies and nourish them with the foods it thrives on. Happy thoughts and strength sent your way from me- bye for now friends! :D