Concrete DBT Strategies for Overcoming Binge Eating Disorder
3 minutes
For many grappling with binge eating disorder (BED), familiar advice such as journaling, distraction techniques, and mindful eating are often recommended. While these are valuable tools, they are vague and can lack practical application. This blog will offer practical steps using a therapeutic approach called Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) which was originally designed to assist individuals struggling with emotional dysregulation. DBT has proven effective for a variety of conditions, including eating disorders like BED.
I am offering these tools because I believe they can help offer much-needed relief; however, they don’t replace a deeper look at an individual’s root causes of continual binge eating. To truly heal and not be burdened by binge eating, deeper work is highly recommended. The skills below are amazing in conjunction with therapeutic work.
Distress Tolerance and Emotional Regulation in Coping with Binge Eating: Learning to manage intense emotions is essential in preventing binge eating. Distress tolerance isn't about avoiding stress but reducing its impact to maintain clear thinking and decision-making.
Build a Distress Tolerance Toolbox: Have a list of simple and effective coping strategies that resonate with you. Maybe it’s a walk, a bath, a podcast or a craft like crocheting. Choose an activity that you enjoy and that can help ground you.
The STOP Skill: This can be implemented right as you are having an urge to binge or if you are in the midst of planning one in your head. Pause and apply the STOP skill: Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed mindfully. Try to drag this out to last at least three to five minutes and see if you are able to redirect yourself.
The TIPP Skill: This technique is specifically designed to address overwhelming emotions in the moment.
Temperature: Research shows that splashing very cold water or putting ice on your face can redirect your nervous system, helping to alleviate emotional distress.
Intense Exercise: Activities that elevate your heart rate, such as high knees, jumping jacks, or push-ups, can also dissipate pent-up energy associated with the urge to binge eat. Even just five minutes.
Paced breathing involves deliberately slowing down your breath, perhaps inhaling for five seconds and exhaling for ten.
Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and then releasing different muscle groups one by one.
Each of these four techniques can be used individually or in combination when feeling overwhelmed or experiencing the urge to binge eat. The key is to modify your physiological response and redirect your focus away from binge eating tendencies.
Radical Acceptance: Another tool for binge eating, radical acceptance involves embracing your reality without resistance. By recognizing the truth of your situation (which is likely unpleasant) without trying to fight it can alleviate the compulsion to binge as a form of escape or denial.
For instance, saying, "My partner and I just broke up, and I'm not even that bothered because I know I’m better off. That relationship was toxic.," lacks the radical acceptance that would instead look more like, "I'm grappling with a mix of emotions after my breakup. I'm experiencing intense pain and a genuine desire to dissociate from that pain." Embracing reality as it unfolds can of course be painful, but it also frees you from the exhausting battle and destructive strategies of attempting to avoid it.
Mindfulness for Binge Eating Disorder: Mindfulness, a foundation of DBT, emphasizes being present and nonjudgmental. This skill will help you to recognize your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations that are tied to eating and are the opposite of the numbing that takes place during binges.
Mindfulness Exercises Pre-Binge: If you can catch yourself before a binge begins, try to find a quiet space to perform a body scan. Identify where your urge to binge is stemming from. Is it emotional discomfort (did something unsettling happen earlier that day)? Are you alone for the first time in a while and believe this is your only opportunity? Is it actual physical hunger? Something else?
Practice Mindful Eating (even if during a binge): Slow down to fully experience your meal's taste, texture, and smell. Don’t just describe them in your head, but actively write them down to heighten awareness as well as pace yourself.
As stated, these actionable strategies for those battling binge eating (distress tolerance, emotional regulation, radical acceptance, and mindfulness,) can help you manage the urge to binge eat. The best outcomes are when these can be implemented with more meaningful therapeutic work.
More about binge eating disorder
Blog post about understanding the dynamics of binge eating
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