How I Was Diagnosed With Binge Eating Disorder

My story of how I was finally diagnosed with binge eating disorder is a strange one. I had no idea I actually had a medical problem. After a lifetime of being raised on ideas that eating was easily controlled through willpower and your weight was a simple problem that the next fad diet could fix, I was inclined to think that my problems with food were down to my own lack of self-control. Receiving my binge eating disorder diagnosis was a complete shock.

What Led Up To My Binge Eating Disorder Diagnosis

How I was diagnosed with binge eating disorder was rather an accident. I had gone to an
eating disorder therapist to talk about ways I could control portions, cut out junk food, eat fewer carbs, and all of the other things I had done to lose weight that had never worked in the long term. When the therapist listened to me talk about my history with diets, including starvation diets, my yo-yo dieting, my feelings of guilt, shame, and helplessness, my rapid weight gain, etc., she knew that I didn't just have a problem with my weight; I had binge eating disorder.

When she first diagnosed me with binge eating disorder, I didn't believe her. My concept of eating disorders mainly revolved around what popular culture conceived them to be, which was mainly anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. I didn't fit into my own preconceived notion of someone who had an eating disorder, so I never thought that I actually had one.

Steps I Took After My Diagnosis of Binge Eating Disorder

How I was diagnosed with binge eating disorder was jarring enough. But after I knew that I had a medical problem, there was no more bandaids of fad diets and temporary exercise routines. I started by taking my doctor's advice and going to a weight loss clinic that specialized in both surgical and non-surgical weight loss.

I didn't think that I was even a candidate for weight loss surgery, but I sat through the free seminar and realized that I absolutely was. In conjunction with therapy and education provided through my doctor's office, I decided to get gastric sleeve weight loss surgery to help me deal with my binge eating disorder.

How To Get Diagnosed With Binge Eating Disorder

Here's how you can get diagnosed with binge eating disorder. If your eating is out of control, you have symptoms of binge eating disorder, and you suspect that you have it, go see a medical professional who can diagnose you and help you start on your path to recovery. Although getting a diagnosis for your problem might seem like the ending of a journey, it's really only the beginning. But that journey can lead to better health, better choices, and feeling much happier with yourself.

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