Sleep Related Eating Disorders
Sleep related eating disorders oftentimes occur in conjunction with another sleep disorder, but they can happen on their own as well. An eating disorder that happens while sleeping usually involves people wandering into the kitchen and eating food while still partially or completely asleep. Sometimes the foods they consume are completely contrary to the foods the people usually prefer. For example, a vegetarian might consume meat products while engaged in an episode of a sleep related eating disorder. This disorder is often compared to sleep walking, but this disorder may occur concurrently or completely separately from sleep walking.
This is a rare and dangerous sleep disorder. Sleep related eating disorders are different from other sleep disorders that occur during waking hours. While anorexia and bulimia are certainly eating disorders, these do not generally occur solely at night during sleeping hours. In other words, people affected by sleep related eating disorders are not making a decision to gorge themselves on food, and are not doing so with the intention of later purging it all out. This is an event that occurs outside of the person’s consciousness, and may not even be remembered until the next morning when the person awakens with a full stomach and a huge mess in the kitchen.
People have a lot of problems with this sleeping disorder because it affects them in several ways. Their quality of sleep is affected because they do not consistently sleep in bed throughout the night. Their health is affected because they are consuming sometimes-mass quantities of food in the middle of the night, and in some instances they might be putting their overall health at risk because at times people with sleep related health disorders will attempt to use a stove or microwave oven in their sleep state. This can lead to injuries and damage.
Perhaps most damaging at all, however, is the psychological effect that this disorder can have a on a person. This sleep disorder can make people feel completely out of control, and can also lead to negative views of their bodies. The sad fact is that sleep related eating disorders can actually lead to other eating and exercise disorders because the affected people turn to extreme methods in an attempt to counteract the massive quantities of calories they take in during an episode of nighttime eating. People with this sleep disorder might limit their calories during the day or may turn to excessive exercise so they do not gain weight as a result of the eating binges. This can leave some people feeling embarrassed and helpless.
If you think you may suffer from a sleep related eating disorder it is important for you to get evaluated by a doctor. There are so many things that can go awry when it comes to nighttime eating while still sleeping, so this is not something that anyone should ignore. Treatment will probably include some habit modifications as well as potential prescribed medicine. The important thing is to get treated so the behavior will stop.
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