The line is not the amount. It is whether you feel out of control while it is happening, whether it is distressing you, and whether anything follows it to make up for it. Overeating at Christmas is not binge eating disorder. Eating past comfortable fullness most weeks, alone, unable to stop, is worth a GP appointment whatever it turns out to be called.
Here is what separates the patterns, because they need different things, and one of them needs seeing sooner rather than later.
Overeating and a binge are not the same event
Everybody eats too much sometimes. The features clinicians are interested in are not about the size of the meal.
The NHS describes binge eating disorder as "regularly eating a lot of food over a short period of time until you're uncomfortably full", and as a serious mental health condition where people eat without feeling in control of what they are doing. The bits that carry the weight there are "regularly", "in control" and the word "condition".
Alongside the eating itself, the things that tend to travel with it are eating much faster than usual, eating when not physically hungry, eating alone or secretly because of embarrassment, and feeling depressed, guilty, ashamed or disgusted afterwards.
Beat, the UK eating disorder charity, adds two things people use to rule themselves out and should not. Binge eating disorder "can affect anyone of any age, gender, ethnicity or background", and "it is possible to suffer from binge eating disorder and be within the healthy weight range".
What makes it something else
This is the section that matters most, because the answer changes what you should do this week.
**If something follows the eating to compensate.** Making yourself sick, laxatives, fasting the next day, exercising to cancel it out. Beat draws the line here: unlike bulimia, binge eating disorder "isn't followed by trying to get rid of the food through behaviours such as vomiting, though they may sometimes fast between binges". If compensating is part of your pattern, that is a different condition and it is one to take to a GP soon rather than when you get round to it.
**If restriction is the dominant half.** If most of the story is eating as little as possible, rules getting tighter, and the binges are the exception rather than the rule, that points towards anorexia rather than binge eating disorder. It needs assessing, and it is not something to manage alone.
**If avoiding food is not about weight or shape at all.** Avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder, ARFID, is about texture, fear of choking or being sick, or simply no interest in eating. People with it often get told they are fussy for years before anyone names it.
**If it fits none of the boxes.** The NHS names OSFED, other specified feeding or eating disorder, for exactly this. It is not a lesser diagnosis and it gets the same treatment routes. Not fitting a description you read online is not evidence that you are fine.
The NHS's own list of the types is anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder, OSFED and ARFID. If you recognise yourself anywhere on that list, the instruction is the same: "If you think you may have an eating disorder, see a GP as soon as you can."
What you cannot do from a webpage
Diagnose yourself, in either direction.
NICE guideline NG69 is unusually direct about this. It tells clinicians: "Do not use screening tools (for example, SCOFF) as the sole method to determine whether or not people have an eating disorder." And separately: "Do not use single measures such as BMI or duration of illness to determine whether to offer treatment."
Read that second one twice if you have been telling yourself you are not thin enough, not big enough, or have not been doing this long enough to count. The national guideline says those measures must not be used to decide, which means they are not yours to disqualify yourself with either.
So the useful output of this page is not a label. It is a sentence you can say in a ten minute appointment.
The words to take to a GP
Write it down before you go. The hardest part is the first forty seconds.
*"I eat large amounts of food in one go, I can't stop while it's happening, and I feel awful afterwards. It happens about [X] times a week and has been going on for [X] months."*
Then add whichever of these is true, because they are the parts that change what happens next.
- *"Afterwards I make myself sick / take laxatives / don't eat the next day / exercise to make up for it."*
- *"Most of the time I'm trying to eat as little as possible."*
- *"I avoid a lot of foods, but it's not about my weight."*
The NHS says the GP will ask about your eating habits and how you are feeling, then may refer you to an eating disorder specialist or team. It also acknowledges that it can be hard to admit you need help, and suggests taking someone with you.
Note down when episodes happened over the past fortnight before the appointment. Reconstructing two weeks from memory in a ten minute slot goes badly. Renovyn logs that quietly in the background if you would rather not keep a notebook.
On "food addiction"
You will meet the phrase, usually attached to something being sold.
It is not a diagnosis. The researchers arguing for the concept accept that addiction to certain foods is not in the diagnostic manuals, and that no specific addictive chemical has been identified in food in the way nicotine has been in tobacco. The counter-argument is that the evidence for tolerance and withdrawal is not there.
Both positions are worth knowing, and here is why it matters practically rather than academically. The treatment that follows from the addiction framing is usually abstinence from particular foods, and for binge eating that is dieting under another name, which is the thing NICE tells clinicians to advise against during treatment. [Restriction and the binge that follows](/guides/food/restriction-and-the-binge-that-follows) walks through the mechanism.
If you need to talk to someone before the appointment
Beat's helplines are open 3pm to 8pm, Monday to Friday. You do not need a formal diagnosis to call.
| Nation | Number | |---|---| | England | 0808 801 0677 | | Scotland | 0808 801 0432 | | Wales | 0808 801 0433 | | Northern Ireland | 0808 801 0434 |
Calls are free from UK landlines and mobiles and do not appear on itemised bills. Beat is clear that it does "not operate a crisis service" and its staff are "not medically trained". If you are in danger tonight, Samaritans is 116 123, any hour.
Common questions
**Am I just greedy?** No, and the distinction is not a matter of opinion. Eating without feeling in control of what you are doing is the description the NHS uses for a recognised mental health condition. Greed does not usually involve secrecy, distress and an inability to stop.
**I make myself sick sometimes. Is that still binge eating disorder?** That points to a different pattern. Beat's own definition separates binge eating disorder from bulimia by the absence of compensating behaviours afterwards. If compensating is part of it, say so to a GP and try to be seen soon.
**I'm not overweight. Can I still have an eating disorder?** Yes. Beat states that it is possible to have binge eating disorder and be within the healthy weight range, and NICE says BMI must not be used on its own to decide whether to offer treatment.
**Is food addiction real?** It is a contested idea rather than a diagnosis, and both sides of the argument are live. What matters practically is that the treatment usually attached to it, cutting out foods, is the thing national guidance advises against during treatment for binge eating.
**Do I need a diagnosis before I can get help?** No. A GP appointment is the way in, Beat's helpline does not require one, and NICE tells clinicians not to use single measures to gate treatment. Start with the appointment and let the naming happen there. [How to stop binge eating](/guides/food/how-to-stop-binge-eating) covers the first practical step in the meantime.
Sources
- [NHS, Eating disorders](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/eating-disorders/). The five types named, the warning signs, and the instruction to see a GP as soon as you can.
- [NHS, Binge eating disorder overview](https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/binge-eating/overview/). The definition, the symptoms, who it affects and what a GP appointment involves.
- [NICE guideline NG69, Recommendations](https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng69/chapter/Recommendations). Screening tools not to be used alone, and BMI and duration not to be used to decide treatment.
- [Beat, Binge eating disorder](https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/get-information-and-support/about-eating-disorders/types/binge-eating-disorder/). Who it affects, the healthy weight range point, and the distinction from bulimia.
