Binge eating and dissociation?

Question

I was talking to my psych yesterday about my bulimia and she discribed my feelings of 'losing control' and 'zoneing out' during my periods of binge eating as dissociation.

I looked dissociation up on the net and i'm not sure if it is a term that she should be throwing around that lightly...

I have an anxiety disorder, depression and panic disorder..

Is it dissociaton or is she wrong??

Answer 1

The generic definition of dissociation is the act of separating your mind (thoughts and feelings) from your body.  

A good portion of the world experiences lower forms of dissociation at some point every day.  A low form of dissociation is daydreaming during a class lecture.  Have you ever left class and known your body was there but you don't have a clue what happened?  Or 'highway hypnosis'--when one all of a sudden arrives at work and doesn't remember driving there.  These experiences alone don't even mean this individual has a mental illness!  It is when this natural response interferes with our ability to function that we have a problem.

Your psych was not telling you that you had Dissociative Identity Disorder or most likely any specific dissociative disorder.  It does not mean you had a horrible traumatic past and have multiple personalities.

The act of dissociation typically comes hand in hand with an eating disorder.  That is how the disorder works--somehow the act of eating (or not eating) allows the individual to cut their feelings and thoughts off from their body.  That is when we 'loose control'.  

Eating disorder therapists introduce this concept a lot in connection with Mindfulness and Mindful Eating.  That is actively focusing on what is going on in your body and in your environment while you eat (the smell of food, what it looks like, the feel of the fork, any sounds, the taste...).  Awareness gives control and the ability to break the cycle just as you might snap a rubber band on your wrist to keep you aware during a lecture.

I hope this helps.