A study that appeared in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in April states that binge eating can be successfully combated with a 12 week self-guided program which can also less expensive than traditional care for.
Those who volunteered agreed to read the book Overcoming Binge Eating, and to attend eight therapy sessions over the 12 week period. In these sessions, the counselors explained the reasoning behind cognitive behavioral therapy, and helped the volunteers put the strategies in the book into practice. These strategies include a six-step program that uses self-control and self-monitoring to control binge eating.
The test group recorded better results than the subjects in a regularly controlled binge eating session. These closely monitored sessions had a 28.3 percent success rate at the end of the program compared to the 63.5 percent of patients that stopped binge eating after the self-guided program. After a full year, 64.2 percent of patients from the self-guided therapy group overcame their binge eating disorder compared to 44.6 percent in the regular sessions.
In addition, the self-guided program is $428 cheaper than the control group over the course of a year. On average, the self-guided patients saved an additional $149 because they were inclined to spend less money on weight loss programs or over the counter medications. Frances Lynch, health economist at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, said that it was unusual to find a program that was both more effective and cheaper than traditional care.
