Duke University Psychiatrist and Professor Emeritus, Allen Frances following the latest approval by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) and addition of BED as an official medical diagnosis warns that, "Millions of people will be mislabeled as mentally ill and treated with unhelpful, and potentially harmful, diet pills".
The DSM 5 has already received significant levels of criticism from many authoritative sources, chief of which being that the manual forces clinicians to make decisions that are not based on sufficiently robust evidence. As stated on Wikepaedia, the criticism has resulted in a petition signed by 13,000, and sponsored by many mental health organizations, which called for outside review of the document.
However, following the DSM lead, the FDA have now also approved the use of the speedy pill used for medicating ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) for use in treating BED. Prof Allen writes on KevinMD, "My prediction now is that, with a massive marketing campaign behind it, BED will become one of the most common of all diagnoses. Especially with a former world tennis champ as shill and with commercials".
Defining and Diagnosing Food Intake
BED is reported to be one of the most prevalent eating disorders in adults. BED differes from Bullimia Nervosa (BN) as with BN eating binges may be compensated for with dieting, vomiting, laxatives, or intense exercise. BED would be for those who binged without compensation and were, therefore, more likely to be overweight or obese.
Prof Allen states, "The BED diagnosis and meds may be helpful for the few but will almost surely be misused to mislabel and overtreat the many". In any event, the diet pill will not treat the root causes and conditions, and this requires a range of other treatment options.
Dr Robert Lefever has prepared a behaviour check list for anyone who feels that they might have an eating disorder and is considering their options.
- Preoccupied by food - always on your mind.
- Most comfortable eating on your own.
- Using food primarily for its mood-altering effect.
- Using food as a medicine, or a tranquilliser, antidepressant or to aid sleep.
- Making sure you don't run out.
- Eating more than you planned or intended.
- Having a higher capacity than other people for eating.
- Continuing this mood-altering behaviour despite being damaged by it.
- Tending also to use other compulsive behaviours.
- Being dependent on this behaviour in order to function effectively.
- Tending somehow to find the time, energy and money for your particular food-related behaviour.
- Continuing this behaviour despite the repeated serious concern of other people.
He says that any four of these addictive behaviours indicate that you have an eating disorder.
Addiction and eating disorder specialist Eric Needham says that, "whilst there are a wide range of modalities for treating eating disorders, it has been shown that the Twelve Step approach is probably the most effective, as this form of treatment gets down to the root causes and conditions".
