Dissociation is a common experience for those with binge eating disorder (BED), though not at a level to be diagnosable for a dissociative disorder. It is theorized that dissociation may be a function of BED as the frequency of binges is associated with the level of dissociation. When individuals with BED experience dissociation, binge eating may occur as a result of a separation between sensory experience (body) and observation of mind (cognitive awareness). Essentially, there is a lack of experiential presence or awareness of bodily sensations. Also, responding to internal cues of when to stop eating becomes more difficult. Dissociation can lead to emotional numbing, detachment, and lowered environmental awareness, leading to a vicious cycle of not being attuned to what you actually need, so you do not provide yourself with what you need (such as social engagement/support, exercise, fresh air, sleep, good food, laughter, sex, meditation, time to get work done, travel, doing something new, etc.).
Efforts to stop binge eating can include:
- Step 1: Increasing interoceptive awareness to sense when we are becoming dissociated.
- Step 2: Returning to our senses through grounding techniques.
Then, of course, there is an iterative process of trying it out and troubleshooting, and it can be challenging to put the brakes on the dissociative pull when it’s been your nervous system’s “go-to” for so many years. But we are capable of change, and that even includes dissociative patterns.
Developing awareness and alternative coping mechanisms such as physical activities and grounding strategies is the way to counteract the pull to la-la land/dissociative-binge-land.
