Current Approaches in Binge Eating Disorder: Mindfulness and Mindful Eating Practices

Abstract

Binge eating disorder is strongly associated with obesity and is one of the most frequently studied eating disorders in obese individuals. Binge eating disorder is a mental illness characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating without compensatory behaviors. It has also been associated with many eating disorder symptoms, such as depression, low self-esteem and impulsivity. Approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral weight loss therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy are used to treat this eating disorder. Recently, third-wave cognitive behavioral therapies, and especially mindfulness-based interventions, have gained attention in the treatment of binge eating disorder. Mindfulness and especially mindful eating have emerged as new approaches to support healthy eating. Mindfulness is the practice of deliberately staying in the present without judgment and paying attention. Although this approach can be used as a successful primary and adjunct treatment method for anxiety and depression, it can also reverse the impulsivity that is felt intensely in eating disorders. Mindful eating focuses on the person’s awareness of hunger and satiety, emotions, and food consumed. This review aims to understand binge eating disorder and its clinical consequences better and to present current literature that looks at the results of mindfulness and mindful eating in populations with binge eating disorder of any age and weight state.