Acercamiento cualitativo al Trastorno Por Atracón: Del afrontamiento al estigma social

This article addresses issues related to one of the most unknown and stigmatized eating disorders: Binge Eating Disorder. Once the phenomenon has been explained and delimited, the aim is to understand the subjective experiences of people diagnosed with this disorder, focusing on how they cope with it, how they live it and the possible consequences it may have on their lives. Methodology: two focus groups of people diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder were carried out. Results: Three dimensions emerged from the analysis of the discourses (awareness of Binge Eating Disorder, consequences of the disorder in the lives of the sufferers and implications of social ignorance of the disorder) with seven corresponding sub-dimensions. Conclusion: The great difficulty in detecting Binge Eating Disorder, as well as in coping with it, has to do with the lack of knowledge, stereotypes, and the trivialization of the disorder. The consequences of the disorder on the people who suffer from it are significant at a personal, family, and social level. One of the main findings of this research seems to indicate, contrary to much of the existing literature, that compensatory attitudes do exist in this disorder since all the participants had them.