Clinical Aspects of Binge-Eating Disorder

As early as 1959, Albert Stunkard described a subgroup of overweight patients characterized by repeated episodes of binge eating without compensatory behaviors. However, this form of eating disorder only came into the focus of scientific interest after the research criteria for “binge eating disorder (BED)” as an example of unspecified eating disorders were included in the DSM-IV in 1994. In the DSM-5, BED has finally been included as an independent diagnosis based on extensive research over many years. In the ICD-10 (WHO 1993), this diagnosis does not exist and can only be coded as “other eating disorder” (F50.8) or “unspecified eating disorder” (F50.9). The diagnosis will also be considered in the ICD-11. The etiology of BED is not yet sufficiently clarified, but it is a complex mental disorder that is presumably multifactorial and involves various mechanisms in its development as well as triggering and maintaining factors (AWMF 2018).