 Certain eating disorders, such as binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, involve compulsions to engage in episodes of binge eating.According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a binge involves an episode of dietary indiscretion, where an abnormally large amount of food is consumed in a short period, and the individual feels that they do not have control over the amount they are eating.Dietary indiscretion is also characteristic of another eating disorder known as pica, which is characterized by an appetite for non-nutritive substances, such as paper, cloth, and soil.