Dissociation and Binge Eating: Why You Lose Control During Urges (And How to Reconnect)

Have you ever set strong intentions to avoid a binge, only to later feel like your awareness disappeared or you went on autopilot? In today’s video, we explore dissociation and its connection to binge eating.

Dissociation can feel like being in a fog, feeling disconnected from your body, or losing awareness during urges or binge episodes. Understanding this experience can help explain why recovery can sometimes feel confusing and why willpower alone often isn’t enough.

What You’ll Learn in This Video:

• What dissociation can feel like and how it shows up during binge eating

• The research linking dissociation and eating disorders

• Why awareness and intentions can suddenly disappear during urges

• Why studying dissociation is challenging and still evolving in research

• Emerging insights on grounding strategies that may help reconnect awareness If you’ve ever felt confused about why binge episodes can feel automatic or out of your control, this video is for you.

Understanding dissociation can help reduce shame and support a more informed, compassionate recovery journey. Please like, subscribe, and share this video with anyone who might benefit from it.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for more insights, tools, and support on your recovery journey!

0:00 – Intro

0:18 – What dissociation can feel like (fog, disconnection, autopilot) 0:29 – Visual and sensory symptoms (tunnel vision, feeling unreal, spacing out)

0:48 – How dissociation impacted binge eating intentions

1:10 – Discovering dissociation through therapy and research

1:27 – The research linking dissociation and binge eating

1:47 – Competing theories: Does binge eating cause dissociation or vice versa?

2:01 – Dissociation as an episodic experience around binge episodes

2:20 – Why dissociation is difficult to study scientifically

2:40 – The relationship between mindfulness and dissociation

3:20 – New research: Dissociation as reduced sensory input to the brain

3:49 – Grounding and reconnecting to the present moment

4:00 – Pungent foods as a potential grounding strategy

4:23 – Examples of sensory grounding foods

4:35 – Important caution for binge eating recovery

4:45 – Alternative non-food sensory grounding strategies

5:53 – Please subscribe

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Disclaimer: The information on this channel is for educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice or therapy.