Compulsive overeating

Okay... on [a site for people with EDs] I just read a description of compulsive overeating disorder, and I realized... I have had that disorder since ninth grade, until I began restricting. That's four years that I had COE without even knowing it!!!

Compulsive Overeating

Some characteristics of COE:

- May fulfill all the diagnostic critia for Bulimia Nervosa except for the regular purging. (Nope. Besides, isn't that binge eating disorder?)
- Will either binge on large amounts of food or snack continuously throughout the day. (I did both, I think, at intervals, but mostly I snacked on the junkiest of junk food.)
- May be obsessed with food by thinking about it continuously. (I remember a fairly long period of time -- at least several months -- when I'd freak out if I didn't have some kind of junk food in the house.)
- Food becomes a form of comfort to help with depression and feelings. (HELLS YEAH.)
-Usually results in the person being overweight or obese. Some may be of normal weight if they go through periods of 'binge-free' days. (I was overweight for at least two of those four years, and if I'd gained 10 more pounds I would have been obese.)
- May express frustration with weight and not being able to control urges around food. (I didn't like how much fat I had or how big I was, but to me it wasn't worth the effort it would take to give up all the junk food. When I finally found an antidepressant that worked, though, I almost instantly switched from overeating to restricting. That used to strike me as rather odd, but when you think of them both as disordered eating behaviors, it kinda makes sense.)


So... I had COE. Odd, odd thought. Maybe it was just never noticed because I always thought my eating was "normal" except that I ate far too much junk food, which is common among teenagers anyway. The difference is that I was using food as my comfort through those years of dysthymia. Now that the dysthymia is in remission -- I start restricting to get this gross fat off me.

This is even more proof that I didn't just magically develop the mentality. I had it all along, but it was covered up by the COE for many, many years. Now the blanket's just been lifted off my head. That's all. It did not take many "triggers" for me to start restricting to a ridiculous degree (by "normal" standards, at least). And now I know why.