Compulsive eating is one of several eating disorders. While anorexia and bulimia are more recognized as eating disorders, compulsive eating can be just as dangerous and just as debilitating. It is more than just a physical disorder, rather it is a mental disorder that manifests itself with real physical effects.

Compulsive eating is binge eating, but unlike bulimia, sufferers of compulsive eating disorder do not purge their stomach contents after eating. A typical compulsive eater will binge eat a huge amount of food, usually very fattening foods that are high in calories and then after they consume the food, they will have feelings of depression because they know they have erred from what they wanted to do. These feelings of guilt and shame weight them down heavily.

Some of the symptoms to look for in figuring out if you or someone you know suffers from compulsive eating disorder is binging or uncontrollable eating, using the bathroom frequently after meals, use of laxatives or diuretics to help lose the weight put on by the compulsive eating, depression and mood swings, and being overly preoccupied with body weight. Some of these may look just like the symptoms of bulimia, and that’s because the disorders are closely related.

The negative consequences of compulsive eating are very real. Many of the diseases of obesity can be found in sufferers of compulsive eating. Compulsive eaters are more prone to high blood pressure, diabetes, fatigue and obesity related cancers. They also see more weight gain, even to the point of being extremely obese as well as suffering from fatigue and nausea.