A Binge Eating Disorder Treatment Plan

Treatment for BED has some similarities to treatment for other eating disorders. Normalizing eating patterns is still a critical initial step. Thoughts about weight and food remain dominant and interfere with learning other ways to manage daily life. Shame is a central part of the eating disorder and needs to be addressed.

These are underlying aspects of any eating disorder and demand significant attention in successful treatment.

The more obvious differences center around the exact type of behaviors and around weight.

Food restriction and weight loss—focal points of most eating disorders—are lauded behaviors in our society. People with most eating disorders feel like they are engaging in behaviors considered acceptable by society since weight loss and thinness are idealized and viewed as true accomplishments in life. The effect of overvaluing thinness makes it harder to face eating disorder thoughts for many people.

People with BED experience the opposite. The pervasiveness of fatphobia means that these patients suffer from bias and prejudice in all aspects of their lives. Not only do they struggle to get well, but they also face the constant message that they are weak and incapable people.

The eating disorder symptoms are signs of their lack of worth, an erroneous fact validated by the world around them. Even eating disorder treatment can view binging from a negative standpoint rather than as a symptom of an illness.

Similarly, programs tend to focus on weight stabilization as a key to recovery, largely driven by the lure of the illusion of concrete steps towards wellness and by the number-oriented insurance companies. However, it’s hypocritical to harp on weight for people who restrict and ignore the inherent complications for people with BED in our society.

A well-conceived treatment plan for BED needs to address these two differences head on. Programs must face the complicated world we live in that includes fatphobia and body image in order to begin to create an adequate treatment plan for these patients. Similarly, clinicians need to consider how to talk about weight in different ways for people with BED and to consider any plan individually rather than use a one-size-fits-all policy, no matter the eating disorder.

The treatment for BED is often as or even more successful than for other eating disorders. The key to success is considering the true nature of this illness and create a treatment plan aimed at recovery from this specific eating disorder.