by Howard Farkas

Created on: February 23, 2009

What is emotional binge eating and why do people engage in it? In my work as a health psychologist, I have worked with many people who struggle with this behavior. One theme that I hear consistently is that they do not feel a sense of pleasure from the experience. In fact, they typically report feeling physically and emotionally uncomfortable during and after an episode of binge eating.

There is a time-tested principle in psychology, called the Law of Effect, which states, in essence, that people and animals repeat behavior that makes them feel good, and stop engaging in behavior that has unpleasant consequences. This led me to ask simple question: if people are not getting supreme pleasure from binge eating, why do they continue to do it? In fact, they feel powerless to stop it. I knew that this principle, which was formulated over a hundred years ago and is a fundamental concept in the field of psychology, was not wrong. I realized that something other than the desire for food must be driving this behavior. The question is, what is that reinforcement?

I believe the answer can be found by viewing this behavior in the context of the biological principle of homeostasis. As with all living systems, our emotional life requires balance. One type of equilibrium that we must maintain is that which balances self-control against freedom from restraint. Most of the time, this balance is maintained in moderation: for example, we work and we enjoy time off.

An imbalance occurs when we have to suppress our needs in order to take care of external demands whether they are demands of other people or of a situation. In order to restore balance, the self-restraint must be offset by an equivalent degree of self-indulgence. Emotional or binge eating is one expression of the need to restore the required balance. Unfortunately, it is at the expense of moderation on both sides of the scale.

This understanding leads to two important implications: 1) any activity that feels like an indulgence may work just as well, and 2) the source of restraint must be addressed first, rather than focusing entirely on reining in the excessive behavior. Otherwise, as dieting shows, the change won't last.

This model also provides an answer to the question about the Law of Effect: the need to restore balance is a very strong hidden motivator. It's not the food that drives emotional eating; it's the need to balance out excessive self-restraint. In fact, any behavior that people engage in to excess, such as

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