When bingeing is associated with watching television (or social media), in America, it is usually a socially acceptable behavior; however, when it is associated with food or drink, it is no longer tolerated (at least, not without a snide remark at minimum or even intervention at the other end).
What if we accepted that there are few (if any) binges that are not destructive in some way, shape, or form? (Even water can be overdone.)
Popular bingeing items and activities could be listed – shopping, television, food… but the list would likely never reach completion due to the sheer amount of possibilities.
So, instead of focusing on listing the items or activities that are often the subject of bingeing behavior, let’s focus on modifying those tendencies.
Tendencies Towards Bingeing Behavior
You don’t have to suffer with an eating disorder to recognize a tendency towards destructive behavior like bingeing. It kind of sneaks up on you.. “just one more bite” (but before you know it the tray of cookies is gone). “It’s only a dollar (or X amount)” (your budget is gone cent by cent until you are wondering how to pay rent). “I’ll scroll for five more minutes” (the next time you look at the clock an hour has gone by).
If the scenarios above sound familiar, then you’re in the right place.
Fortunately, there is hope… unfortunately, it isn’t easy and there is no “stagnant” or “standing still”. You are nearly always either progressing or regressing. Much like a relationship, you cannot just expect one person to carry all of the weight while not contributing (while still expecting the relationship to thrive).
The Relationship
Sometimes referred to as a “God shaped hole”, as a Christian I believe it exists within each and every one of us, and some people know how to fill it (a relationship with our Savior) and some people temporarily fill it (whatever the binge may be).
Don’t be fooled, though; Christians often usually struggle with this relational hole too… because humans are not perfect, even if we like to pretend we are.
Allow me to be the one to raise my hand here, and say that I struggle with destructive bingeing. It looks like different things, but primarily, I struggle with unhealthy foods… and reading Lysa TerKeurst’s re-write of Made to Crave (i’ll start again monday) brought my attention back to the struggle that I thought had been excised from my life.
More Than Words (Accountability)
If you’ve gotten this far, then there is likely someone (maybe yourself) struggling in your life. Here we are. The crossroads. To ignore the issue or deal with it.
Although it’s a common issue, it isn’t commonly addressed (unless you work in the mental health/healthcare field).. but it still can cause unnecessary stress, anger, and even self-hatred or resentment.
Different bingeing issues would require different actions to resolve them, so we are going to look at general, overall suggestions that would be applicable to more struggles.
- Find an accountability partner – whether that’s a group like AA or NA, a counselor, a friend, a family member, your prayers to God or a combination, accountability is a really beneficial way to tackle binge struggles.
- Alternate activities – be careful not to replace one issue with another, but the majority of those who find a way out of addiction do so by filling the hole left by whatever the addiction may be with something that isn’t harmful or is a step-down. This could look like smokers chewing sugar-free gum or mints (isn’t usually harmful) or using a “step down” by swapping cigarettes with patches or e cigs. If you don’t fill the hole, it usually fills itself (and that isn’t always a good thing). Hand to mouth activities (like smoking) might be unintentionally replaced by snacking (hello, weight struggles) if the person isn’t intentional about filling the hole their old activity left in their life when they gave it up; or the addiction might come back and fill the same hole it left (leaving the person feeling defeated).
I am not a doctor, and there is nothing I say that should be construed as medical advice. I’m just another flawed human, actively working on filling my “God shaped hole” with a relationship with our creator instead of a “relationship” with the materialistic items (or yummy ones) that have been placed before us… (‘“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.’ (1 Corinthians 10:23).
While you ponder that verse (and especially the one that comes a bit after it, 1 Corinthians 10:31), let me know in the comments below: do you struggle with a socially acceptable form of destructive bingeing? What does that look like in your life?
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
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