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I still remember the horrible scene from 1993 when a man ran onto the court in Hamburg and stabbed tennis great Monica Seles, then just 19, in the back. Seles had amassed eight grand slam singles titles before she was attacked. She returned to the sport in 1995 but had trouble playing at the same superior level. Although she officially retired from professional tennis in 2008, Seles still does exhibition matches. Last year she got engaged to billionaire Tom Golisano, the 73 year-old founder of Paychex payroll processing.

Now Seles has returned to the spotlight to discuss her binge eating disorder. (Note: this is not the first time Seles has revealed this publicly, although outlets are reporting it like it is.) I thought that binge eating was like bulimia, but sufferers do not throw up, they just eat large quantities of food in one sitting and feel shame, guilt and a loss of control. Binge eating disorder was officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013. Seles also has a new partnership with pharmaceutical company Shire, which puts out the first drug approved to treat BED, an amphetamine called Vyvanse. (Vyvanse is also approved to treat ADHD.) Here’s more on her announcement, and you can see a video of her interview on Good Morning America’s site:

In an interview with “Good Morning America”’s Lara Spencer, Seles opened up about her experience in an effort to raise awareness about the disorder.

People with binge eating disorder (B.E.D.) frequently eat an unusually large amount of food but do not throw it up, according U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Women’s Health.

The binges may result in feelings of shame and embarrassment and may lead to obesity and other health problems. According to the Office of Women’s Health, as many as 4 million Americans suffer from the disorder, which tends to affect women more than men.

Seles is a paid spokesperson for Shire Pharmaceuticals, the drug company that make Vyvanse – the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of the disorder. Vyvanse is already approved for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Seles, 41, also appears in new public service campaign about the disorder, including a public service announcement that debuted on Tuesday.

“My binge-eating episodes will usually happen in the evenings when I would be back by myself after a long day at the tennis courts and would just eat large quantities of food,” she says in the spot that’s a partnership with Shire Pharmaceuticals, the National Eating Disorder Association and the Binge Eating Disorder Association. “My eating was just uncontrollable. Once the binge was over I felt so upset with myself.”

Seles told Spencer that she wants fellow binge eating disorder sufferers to know that they’re not alone.

“I look at my life and how many years I wasted by being shamed about it, hiding it from my family and friends and doing my binges in private … now there’s help out there,” she said, mentioning the website BingeEatingDisorder.com, which has information and resources about B.E.D.

Seles told Spencer that stressful situations led to her binges.

“My trigger foods were pretzels, potato chips,” she said. “And I would do them alone because I was so ashamed that, here, I was a tennis player who was so controlling on the tennis court. I could direct. I’m very dedicated. Yet, in this one area of binge eating I was out of control.”

[From GMA.Yahoo.com]

This reminds me very much of when Paula Deen announced that she had diabetes – at the same time she revealed her partnership with Novo Nordisk to shill diabetes drugs. While I do think Seles is sincere about having BED, it doesn’t sit well with me that she’s discussing her binge eating disorder at the same time that she’s announcing that she’s a spokesperson. She’s advertising a prescription drug basically. I do wonder how this came about. Monica’s wiki page reveals that she’s spoken about her binge eating disorder in the past, so it’s probable that the pharmaceutical company approached her.

I think it’s hard for me to relate to BED as a disorder because I do overeat, especially after I exercise hard and especially at night as Seles explains. I won’t eat an entire big bag of pretzels or a while pizza or anything, but sometimes I have an extra bowl or three and feel like I’ve lost control when I’m snacking. Many people do this, but people with BED do it to the extent that it interferes with their lives and they feel shame about it. Good for Seles for talking about it, but I still question her motivation. Also, binge eating disorder can be a product of our society. It’s way too easy to get high calorie low-nutrient food and we’re bombarded with images of food p0rn constantly.

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