Binge eating as a meaningful experience in bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa: a qualitative analysis

Clinical studies describe binge eating as a reaction to hunger, negative affect, or the need to dissociate. However, little is known about the meanings that women with bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa associate with binge eating.

To examine how women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa interpret their experiences of binge eating.

Sixteen women who engaged in binge eating and had been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or their subclinical variants were interviewed about their experiences of eating disorder. Interview data were analyzed using phenomenologically-informed thematic analysis.

Participants described binge eating as a practice through which the self experiences a sense of release, and existential emptiness is replaced by overwhelming fullness.

Meaningful experiences of release and fullness are central to binge eating in bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa, and may contribute to the long-term maintenance of this practice.