There is tons of research linking binge eating and dissociation. I’m not talking about symptoms strong enough to be a clinically diagnosable dissociative disorder, but nevertheless dissociation is a common theme within the narratives of people who struggle with binge eating.

The person bingeing may feel a narrowing of reality and feel in a trance or on autopilot. The dissociation is not a static dissociation, but an episodic dissociation – one that is part of the specific binge experience.

It’s unknown whether binge eating facilitates dissociation, or dissociation facilitates binge eating, or if there is a third factor that facilitates the co-occurrence of both phenomena.