“Scarlett,
come out of your room already! You’ve been in there for God knows how long!” you plead with your fifteen-year-old daughter as you bang on her bedroom door.
Much to your surprise, Scarlett opens the door ajar and pops her head out. Her hair is a greasy mess. Her sweatpants have multiple stains on them, most likely from food. “What do you want from my life?” she asks as only teenagers can.
“I just want to know how you’re doing,” you say. You try to pry open the door, but Scarlett pushes it to close it. But for the second that you were able to sneak a peek, you noticed that the place is a pig sty. Then again, you’ve seen
pig sties in better condition.
“You know, Scarlett, I have every right to enter your room,” you tell her. “After all, it’s my name on the mortgage, not yours!” Your argument seems to go nowhere, as Scarlett turns the radio onto its highest volume to drown you out.
But then you realize – unless she has adult diapers, she has to come out at some point to use the bathroom. So you grab a book and sit yourself outside her room.
Eventually, she exits, and before she can do anything, you run inside. You are appalled by what you see, because not only is there an unbelievable mess, but there are food packages strewn throughout. When she returns, you sit yourself down on her bed and seeing that she has no choice in the matter, joins you.
“What the heck is going on?” you blurt out. Scarlett lowers her head in shame.
“I don’t even know myself,” she says, as she starts to sob. “Yesterday I was having a rough day, so I went to get some food and came here to chill. Next thing I know, I ate like a horse!” You hand her some tissues and rub her back
softly. She continues: “Now I’m so embarrassed to go out. I probably look like a cow!”
“No you don’t,” you tell her. “You’re beautiful!” As the words leave your lips, you notice that she has indeed put on some weight since the last time you looked closely.
“And it’s not the first time I’ve done something like this,” she cries.
“Listen, Scarlett,” you say soothingly. “I remember learning something like this in college. Now I’m not a doctor, but it sounds to me like you might have binge-eating disorder.”
Scarlett stops crying and rises abruptly. “What?” she says. “I have a disorder?”
“I’m not saying for sure, but I’ll tell you what I know about it, and then we’ll call a professional for a formal assessment.”
Explain to Scarlett what binge-eating disorder is.
You can mention what we have discussed in class.
You must also use at least three outside sources, but you must be careful to cite your sources so that you avoid plagiarism.
The sources should be given within the essay so that the reader knows clearly which information is from which source.
When giving the sources, you must provide enough information for the reader to find the citation. So writing “The New York Times” is not enough. You may provide a hyperlink to the web page you are citing from or give the name of the article, the author’s name, the date (if one is given), and where the article was published.
Additionally, the material that you quote directly should make up no more than 30 percent of your essay answer. This means that you do “most of the talking” and use the citations to support your assertions.
Binge Eating Disorder
The “Scarlett” case study indicates the possibility that she suffers from binge eating. The concept emanates from food addiction, which has received attention in the recent past in research and practice due to the need to establish effective interventions for the disorder. Gearhardt et al. (2011) define binge eating as an eating addiction, which is a lack of control over consumption regardless of negative consequences. Binge eating might appear like a normal behavior with few detrimental effects, but it is a severe eating disorder with potentially serious impacts on the affected person and the need for effective intervention to change the behavior.
Binge eating is a critical eating disorder, in which the affected person consumes unusual amounts of food and finds it hard to stop eating. While most people overeat in some situations, such as during a holiday of celebration, but excessive eating in people with binge eating is problematic behavior. Affected individuals have a strong compulsion and unable to resist the urge to continue eating. Scarlett is showing symptoms of binge eating disorder since she claims to be unable to control her eating. Her room is full of food packages all over that indicates the possibility that she has been eating uncontrollably. She informs her mother that she has eaten like a horse since the previous day. She evidently lacks control over her eating behavior, which is indicative of binge eating.
One of the characteristics of individuals with binge eating is embarrassment and shame over the behavior. The person might feel the need to stop overeating, but they are unable to quit since it is a behavioral disorder. For example, Scarlett locks herself in her room and does not want to come outside for the fear that her mother might see how much she has been eating. When her mother asks her what she is doing, she hangs her head in shame. She affirms that she is embarrassed about leaving the room since she might have added weigh due to the uncontrolled eating. Her mother observes her and realizes that she has added some weight since the last time she had observed her. Binge eating is closely related to overweight and obesity due to the high-calorie intake (Leehr et al., 2015). Her mother is right to believe that Scarlet has binge eating disorder.
People with binge eating reveal negative emotions, such as anger, feeling of loneliness, exhaustion, shame, and disgust that lead to a lack of control in eating. The inability to cope with the emotions or the feeling of being overwhelmed by life pressures can lead a person to develop binge eating behavior. Individuals with binge eating behavior are unable to regulate their emotions, such as anger and sadness. They tend to suppress and ruminate on unwanted emotions, leading to a high risk of psychopathological symptoms and thoughts (Dingemans, Danner, & Parks, 2017). Scarlet reveals to her mother that she overeats when she has a rough day. She knows that she has been eating a lot and is embarrassed, but she cannot control herself.
From the description of scarlet’s eating habit and further research, it is evident that she has binge eating disorder. She is unable to control her eating and has been adding weight as a result. She is also embarrassed by the problem, but lacks the will power to stop. Her mother is correct that she is suffering from binge eating disorder and requires effective intervention to overcome the problem.
References
Dingemans, A., Danner, U., & Parks, M. (2017). Emotion Regulation in Binge Eating Disorder: A Review. Nutrients, 9(11), 1274.
Gearhardt, A., White, M., & Potenza, M. (2011). Binge Eating Disorder and Food Addiction. Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 4(3), 201-207.
Leehr, E. J., Krohmer, K., Schag, K., Dresler, T., Zipfel, S., & Giel, K. E. (2015). Emotion Regulation Model in Binge Eating Disorder and Obesity-A Systematic Review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 49, 125-134.
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