Binge eating disorder - Diagnosis and treatment options

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a newly proposed eating disorder diagnosis that appears in the appendix of DSM-IV. BED describes a syndrome of recurrent binge eating in the absence of any maladaptive compensatory behaviours. Individuals with BED appear to demonstrate a primary disturbance of eating behaviour, which in some people may be secondary to affective and/or anxiety disorders. The chronic, recurrent bingeing associated with BED is thought to typically lead to obesity and its accompanying morbidity and mortality. BED is also associated with significant psychiatric comorbidity, including affective, anxiety and personality disorders, although the degree of psychopathology is usually not as severe as that of bulimia nervosa. In this paper, the history, diagnosis, epidemiology, associated psychiatric comorbidity and treatment approaches of BED are reviewed. Generally, cognitive-behavioural therapy and/or antidepressant medications are key treatment approaches.