The Role of Negative Emotions in Binge Eating Disorder

Abstract

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) refers to the abnormal condition in which patients uncontrollably consume a large quantity of food for a persisting period. There are severe physical and mental health problems brought about by binging. This review is written with the purpose of analyzing the effects and mechanisms of negative emotions on BED. In addition, intervention approaches for BED are discussed. Negative moods are found to precede often binging behavior, and almost all non-purging patients of BED display feelings of guilt after binge eating episodes. From a biological point of view, cortisol and the HPA-Axis are suspected to be closely related to binge eating in response to stress. In addition, shame specifically is found to be positively correlated with binge eating, and binge-induced shame could trigger even more external shame, which forms the vicious cycle of BED. Several existing treatments for BED are reported to be effective to different extents, including either therapist-led or self-guided cognitive Behavior Treatment, Interpersonal Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.