Compulsive Overeating and Binge Eating Disorder: Is There a Difference?

Compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder (BED) are often used interchangeably to talk about certain relationships with food. While they do share some behavioral, emotional, and psychological traits, these two conditions are not the same. 

If you’re struggling with either one, it’s helpful to know their differences, so you can take the most beneficial healing steps for your area of need.

On that note, let’s discuss the nuances between BED and compulsive overeating—where they intersect and where they start to deviate—plus, a few strategies you can use to cultivate more balanced eating patterns.

Trigger Warning: This article discusses eating disorders, including behaviors, statistics, and experiences that may be activating or distressing. Please take care of yourself while reading, and skip this content if it’s not supportive for you right now.

What Is Compulsive Overeating?

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience defines compulsive overeating as “repetitive, unwanted, functionally impairing” bouts of food intake. In some cases, compulsive overeating occurs in response to emotions such as anxiety, stress, boredom, sorrow, or loneliness. 

You might experience an intense drive to consume large portions of food in quick succession to distract from those emotions. But you don’t have to binge in order to suffer from compulsive overeating.

For instance, you might eat to a level of discomfort at meals, feel out of control with some foods, or graze beyond the point of fullness—often without realizing it. 

This behavior is less about the sensation of hunger and more about a persistent, forceful urge. While not an official mental health diagnosis, many clinicians treat compulsive overeating as an Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder (OSFED). 

What Is Binge Eating Disorder?

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a diagnosable mental illness that psychologists characterize as an “uncontrolled consumption of large amounts of food in a short period” (usually less than two hours). 

Unlike compulsive overeating, which is persistent but less structured, folks with BED consistently binge at least once a week. To meet the criteria for BED, these symptoms must occur for three consecutive months.

While compulsive overeating is sometimes a result of emotional distress, BED is almost always a coping mechanism to numb emotions or situations that feel overwhelming. 

Estimates show that BED has a possible heritability rate of 41–57 percent, but most folks who suffer from BED have also experienced trauma, abuse, relational conflict, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, negative rumination, or mood instabilities.

Nearly 50 percent of those with this condition also have three or more co-occurring mental illnesses, the research continues.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, BED is currently the most prevalent eating disorder. It harms almost three percent of the entire U.S. population—that’s roughly 10 million folks who meet the criteria, even if they don’t receive a formal diagnosis or treatment. 

Here are the most common symptoms of BED that clinicians use to identify this condition:

• You rapidly consume extreme quantities of food at least once a week—and have been doing so for a minimum of three months.

• You use food as an agent to numb emotional distress or block out situations that make you feel overwhelmed, anxious, and powerless.

• Your binges are uncontrollable, often leading to uncomfortable fullness (or even nausea).

• You don’t always experience hunger cues, but you still can’t satiate the drive to keep eating.

• You often eat in secret (at night or other times when you’re alone) due to embarrassment over the amount you consume.

• You feel intense disgust, shame, guilt, or depression immediately after each binge. 

• You might resort to drastic weight-control measures between binge episodes in an effort to compensate for the food intake (purges, laxatives, restriction diets, etc.).

• You feel stuck in this recurring cycle, no matter how hard you attempt to overcome it.

Binge Eating Disorder vs. Compulsive Overeating

What is the main distinction between BED and compulsive overeating? They differ in motivation and consistency. While both have elements of repetition and emotional dysregulation:

• BED is a chronic, frequent, and ritualistic pattern of self-medicating from painful emotions or circumstances.

• Compulsive overeating tends to be more of a reactionary impulse that can occur regularly or just periodically.

So, where do they overlap? Aside from the emotional and behavioral factors (loss of control, distraction, escapism, shame, psychological distress, etc.), both compulsive overeating and BED also share a neurological component. 

Many folks with BED release less dopamine than the average person does. But those dopamine levels heighten when their brains’ reward systems anticipate a binge. This surge of dopamine also occurs with compulsive overeating, the research linked above continues. In both cases, it increases sensitivity and urgency in response to food stimuli.

If the defining traits of BED or compulsive overeating resonate with you, it’s important to know that healing is possible. Here are some compassionate ways to reclaim a healthier relationship with food—one that feels balanced, nourishing, and enjoyable.

Healing from BED or Compulsive Overeating

Create a Regular, Flexible Eating Schedule

It’s crucial not to deprive yourself of the nutrients and calories you need. Restrictive diets can fuel the impulse to overeat. Rather than forcing yourself to fluctuate between binges and restrictions, establish consistent meal and snack times at regular intervals throughout the day. 

This schedule will teach your mind and body to respond to both hunger and fullness cues, while also turning down the volume on “food noise” (intrusive thoughts and constant fixations around eating).    

Nurture Healthy Emotional Regulation Skills

Research from Frontiers in Psychiatry found a correlation between the willingness to accept uncomfortable emotions and a lower incidence of unhealthy coping mechanisms, negative ruminations, and eating disorder behaviors. If you use food as an escape or distraction when you feel overwhelmed, practice sitting with your emotions instead.

This might seem scary at first, but stick with it and remember to be gentle with yourself in the process. Here are a few simple and beneficial emotional regulation practices to start you off:

• Journal how you feel without censoring yourself or minimizing the experience.

• Talk to a safe friend, relative, or mentor whom you can trust to validate your emotions and not judge you for them.

• Express your emotions through a creative outlet or release them with gentle movement, such as restorative yoga.

• Calm your nervous system with relaxation techniques like deep, conscious breathing.  

We love this resource from Mental Health America for working through challenging emotions, including this printable resource.

Combat Internalized Shame or Stigma

Weight-related stigma is a common predictor of frequent binge episodes, the Journal of Eating Disorders reports. BED or compulsive overeating can affect all body shapes and sizes, but folks in larger bodies are often unjustly and inaccurately seen as lacking willpower.

This false societal narrative can result in internalized shame, which might cause you to isolate yourself, blame yourself for certain behaviors, or deter you from accessing help. Please know, these conditions are not a sign of failure, weakness, or laziness.        

Seek Professional Help

You may benefit from the clinical guidance of a therapist or dietitian who specializes in the behavioral patterns you’re dealing with. A licensed mental health professional can hold space for your emotions, help you find the root of what causes you to overeat, and equip you with the strategies to recover, tailored to your own unique, specific needs. 

Check out our list of inclusive mental health directories to find someone who can relate to your unique life, experiences, and needs.

We Promise, Healing Is Possible

We know the importance of connecting with an affordable, trustworthy therapist who validates your experience and affirms who you are as a human.

That’s why Project HEAL works to remove both the financial and societal barriers of traditional eating disorder treatment. Learn more about our programs now.