Children & Teens with Binge Eating Disorder: How Parents Can Help

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Children & Teens with Binge Eating Disorder: How Families Can Help

Families are the BEST medicine for their child who may be struggling with emotional and binge eating. In this episode of WeighOut Wednesday, Dr. Ashley Southard discusses specific things that parents and loved ones can do at home to support their child's recovery process.

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Please note that this video is educational and inspirational in nature. Watching this video does not constitute entering into a formal therapeutic treatment relationship with Dr. Ashley Southard, nor should it be a replacement for formal psychotherapy.

[rachelhope]

Thank you for this great video. I will definitely watch more videos and if my daughter and I together can’t figure it out, we will seek professional intervention. When my daughter was 10, I left her father who is a covert narcissist. My daughter saw her father call me names, put me down and be violent towards me. One horrible fight ended with her father breaking a TV, punching a hole in the wall and than ripping the bedroom TV off the wall and raising it over his head to throw it on both me and my daughter crying in bed. Of course he said it was my fault for angering him. All I asked was to please turn down the TV. When I left the narcissist he gaslight my daughter and told her he would never hurt her and that the incident never happened. I told my daughter as painful as the memory may be, that if it is true for her, no one including her father has the right to change her mind or tell her it is not true. Years of gaslighting primarily towards me, left me in PTSD and eventually hospitalized for a complete mental breakdown. While in the hospital the narcissist served me with papers and took my daughter away from me for 3 months. During that time, he told our daughter that I was sick. His whole family lied as well. He threatened to take my house and destroy me so after my breakdown and first split I got back together with him f0r fear of loosing my daughter and home. 8 months later, I got him out of my house. Than it was 3 more years of legal abuse, him harassing me on the road, spreading lies about me. He created a dialogue with all of my kids that your mother is crazy, that I abused him and cheated and destroyed his perfectly good life. He still expresses how I destroyed him. During this time my daughter started binge eating and gained weight.

I feel we are in a better place now. Violence is out of the home and it is peaceful. My daughter has now shared with me how she was buying 4-6 snacks at school lunch every day. My daughter feels she has a sugar addiction. This past September was a huge milestone because it was the first doctor visit where she did not gain weight but grew a few inches. My daughter loves to swim, dance and now loves the peloton. I just want her to feel good and that is all that matters.

It just breaks my heart to see my daughter suffer. She has terrible self talk like I’m ugly, I’m fat, I’m gross
I tell her that is simply not true. Let’s focus on all the amazing things about you. I tell her every day is a new beginning snd fresh start.

The problem is that when she goes to her father’s house who is newly married with a big family, they are always celebrating something. Fresh baked desserts and lots of junk like oreos in the cabinet. She express how it is easier at home to be good. I now have residential custody and our relationship is solid and very supportive. Today is her bday and lots of bday cake celebrating with both he and I. I said, enjoy your birthday and celebrate and then we will go back to our healthy routine. I say it is ok to have the cake.

I am trying to teach her self love, positive self talk and to do things that are fun. I’m so proud of her for surviving an awful situation. I totally believe she can be what ever she wants and she can do this if she chooses. She does not want me to say anything to her Dad but I am considering writing him a letter and sharing her struggles. But a narcissist really doesn’t care.

I am the daughter of a bipolar narcissistic mother. By high school I was a binge eater, took laxatives, made myself vomit and eventually cut my diet down to only 1 tuna fish sandwich a day which I ate in 1/4’s throughout the day. My major eating disorder problems ended around age 21-23 but I still weigh myself daily. I’ve had times when I’ve felt gross, fat, ugly and looking back at pictures that is simply not true. I still struggle with binge eating of sweets and salty food. Somehow, my body stays thin so I tell myself it is ok to binge. I also have always done intermittent fasting because I am not really hungry in the morning and food slows me down. So I’m working in those habits. If I want sweet or salty foods, I try to put it off until later in the day otherwise, I’d binge all day.
So, I haven’t been the best role model for healthy eating. I have always worked out at least 3 days a week.
Really hoping we conquer this ....

[greeneileen]

Your compassionate approach to disordered eating seems sensible. Your view of alcoholism lacks scientific understanding and calls into question your depth of expertise in this area.

[stellavera]

Thank you soo much for helping people one at a time...God bless !

[AnhNguyen-dbco]

This is really good and true. Even for an adult struggling with this