They often use food as a way to cope with their feelings. Usually, binge eating temporarily relieves the stress of dealing with feelings, but is unfortunately followed by feelings of guilt, shame, disgust, and depression. The overeating usually occurs in secret. The overeater will tend to eat normally or restrictively in public but then make up for eating less by bingeing in secret. Overeaters usually determine their self-worth by their weight or body shape and are constantly unhappy with their weight.
Medical complications can be servere and even life-threatening for the compulsive overeater.
In some cases, an eating disorder serves as a coping mechanism for the abuse. For some survivors of abuse, binging, purging and starvation may serve as control over their bodies where they had none before. Understand that it is not your fault. An eating disorder is a disease. Eating disorders are not caused by family , friends or even the individual who is experiencing it.