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Binge eating disorder: what it is, the signs, what can cause it, getting help, and weight
For anyone who binge eats, wonders if they do, or is worried about someone who does. It passes on, by name, what the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says: what binge eating disorder is and how it differs from bulimia, how common it is and who it affects, the signs, what can cause it, the health problems that can come with it, how a specialist finds out, the talk therapies and medicines used to treat it, and what NIDDK says about weight and dieting. It builds the words to say, and prints a card for your notes. Nothing is saved.
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- On this site: When eating has become a fight · When the heaviness won’t lift · When the worry won’t switch off.
- Alongside it: When blood sugar goes too low or too high · Insomnia · Myths about food and moving · Choosing a weight-loss program.
- When it is hard to pay: When you need a doctor and can’t pay. Getting ready: Get ready for your appointment.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Your mood, your thoughts, sleep, worry or an urge, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for thoughts of suicide and self-harm, depression, bipolar, anxiety, OCD, trauma, psychosis, eating, drinking and gambling, sleep, grief, ADHD, autism and memory, on one list.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- Changing your habits for better health: the four stages, the pros and cons, the roadblocks, and keeping it up: changing your habits for better health (eating better, moving more): the four stages of change, the pros and cons, the common roadblocks and their solutions, small goals, setbacks, and keeping it up.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor, nurse or therapist has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 19, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) pages Binge Eating Disorder (Definition & Facts, Symptoms & Causes, and Diagnosis & Treatment; last reviewed May 2021) and their Spanish twins. The numbers (at least once a week for 3 months; about 1.25 percent of adult women, 0.42 percent of adult men and 1.6 percent of teens 13 to 18; an average age of 25 when it first occurs; nearly two-thirds with episodes over 1 year or longer; within 2 hours, NIDDK’s example; more than half with problems in social functioning) are NIDDK’s, and we add none. Ours: 988 and 911 (NIDDK names neither on these pages); that binge eating is not a reason for shame and care is for every body size; that strict dieting and bingeing can feed each other; to speak with care, not about weight or food rules; the lines to say; the card; the links to our other pages; and the order of the steps. What we left out: NIDDK’s section on clinical trials, its references, and its video. Nothing you tick or type here is saved or sent.