A 9-year-old disease

While OA has existed for 30 years, compulsive overeating was only recently recognized as a disorder. A release from the American Anorexia and Bulimia Foundation says it wasn’t listed in the DSM-IV, a handbook of psychological disorders, until 1993.

Its late acceptance as an eating disorder by psychologists may indicate a modern jump in cases.

According to Rader Programs, a group of clinical programs specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, compulsive overeating is a cycle of binge eating as a way of coping with depression. Most have a negative body image, and their weight can fluctuate as they struggle to keep it down. Although symptoms vary, eating is compulsive overeating when it becomes the focus of an individual’s life.

The members of OA, including Chris and Rose, say they ate because of problems in their lives. Food was an escape from family pressures, job stress and an overall sense of helplessness.

“My husband didn’t work steady for 9 1/2 years,” she says. “It was a hard time, but I found when I relied on a higher power, my needs were always met.”

Rose and Dan say eating was a temporary pacifier during hard times, and it only made them feel more lost.

‘It works if you work it’

One goal of the program is to move food to a healthier place on a member’s list of priorities. When this aim has been achieved, members begin the daunting task of filling its place. Dan, who says loved ones referred him to OA two years ago, has begun that journey.

“The key to breaking the obsession is finding something with depth and weight,” he says. “I accept tasks with enthusiasm now, and I’m able to add to the work situation. It occurred to me that I could be helping myself instead of sitting around thinking how lousy I’ve got it.”

Before coming to similar realizations, members tried everything from dieting to abstinence. Unhappiness materialized as extra pounds, so some mistook it for a physical disorder. Others, recognizing it as psychological, tried ignoring it or isolating themselves. During her turn, Chris retraces the steps that led to OA.

“I abdicated my life and said other people should run it for me,” she said. “It had become too big a mess for me to deal with. I came here because I’d tried so many things, and I thought I may as well try one more.”

After Chris finishes, the meeting ends. Reflexively, the group stands in a circle and prays.

“Keep coming back,” they say, their hands in a pile. “It works if you work it.”

In dispersion, the group adopts a different character. No one leaves immediately, instead staying to catch up with each other. They were united by experience, choice and the baggage they unloaded in the middle of the circle. After worrying about weight for so long, they could walk away lighter.