Overcoming the Binge Purge Cycle

The idea of strong willpower as a key to overcoming the binge-purge cycle is a lie. So many times I’ve heard, “If I just had more self-control I could stop binging” or “I was following my diet but I don’t have enough will power to stick to it and then can’t control my self around food.”

This thinking is distorted, but it’s no wonder it is our first thought. We live in a society that values self-control and practicing willpower. For example, you are praised to exercise and push yourself past your limits even when your body is telling you ‘stop’ or being told to eat ‘clean’ and cut out all added sugar. Thankfully sometimes our bodies are smarter than we think. We need a day of rest to recover from exercise to repair muscles and prevent injury or we need that sugar because it’s our body’s main source of energy. When we are physically hungry and can’t say no to that cookie it’s likely because your body hasn’t met its glucose needs otherwise and is telling you it needs a quick source of energy to keep it going.

The psychology behind the binge-purge cycle

The way our brain is wired is also a reason why willpower is a lie. As we engage in behaviors to cope with feelings such as binging, purging, compulsive exercise, etc. we become entrenched because our brains form neural pathways that make behavior automatic. Neural pathways are constructed by neurons connected by dendrites that are formed based on our habits and behaviors.

When brain cells communicate frequently the pathway communication becomes faster and behaviors automatic. Reading, driving, and riding a bike are all examples of complicated behaviors that we do automatically because neural pathways are formed. This is why just having stronger willpower is not the answer. Our brains are literally wired to follow the default pathway.

The good news is that the once held theory that our brains are hard-wired and unchangeable has been debunked. It turns out our nervous system has a tremendous capacity for self-correction. The concept of neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s malleability and ability to alter in response to stimuli and experiences. Psychiatrist Norman Doidge wrote, “The brain is so plastic and changeable that alterations are not only possible but inevitable. Unmasking, exposing, and strengthening secondary neural pathways are one of the main ways the plastic brain reorganizes itself.”

New experiences, a different environment, physical injury, and recent learnings may all cause our brains to change and grow different pathways or rewire existing ones. These changes can change the brain’s anatomy and physiology because it is causing it to rewire the physical structure and functional organization.

One study that illustrates the result of intellectual and practical provocation is the London Cab Drivers study. The streets of London have been described as a tangled ball of yarn with no easy to follow street grid to follow. Despite this, London’s cab drivers navigate the complex streets with ease. Researchers studied how the navigational demands affected the cab drivers and found their brain’s memory center, the hippocampus, grew to accommodate the demand on memory.

Forming new neural pathways

Much like the change seen in the cab driver’s brains, we can also form new neural pathways when we repeatedly do something different. The pathways become increasingly more concrete the more we practice. Think of this process like walking through an overgrown field. At first, you have to create a path. This process is slow and your legs have to work harder to flatten the grass and make the endpoint clear. Once you have taken that path a handful of times the trip gets easier and faster. Over time the new path becomes the default.

This process can be uncomfortable because it is unfamiliar. It can also be made more difficult if we are flooded with emotions triggered by shame and hopelessness. In keeping with our analogy, the new path would be harder to take if it was flooded. Likewise, when the brain is flooded with the feeling of shame it is difficult to see a way out of a binge-purge cycle. Building a sort of ‘bridge’ across the water is important when the neural pathways are just forming and the floodwaters break. This bridge disrupts shame and is what can help to emotionally engage in a new way within a safe space.

Disrupting shame

Tammy Beasley writes that disrupting shame is possibly the most important factor as it is the single most pervasive trigger that intersects all physiological and emotional responses to the binge cycle. The first step in doing that is understanding the science happening within the body and seeing our reactions through a lens of self-compassion. Approach recovery with curiosity instead of judgment.

The brain is constantly shifting and reorganizing itself as a result of our behaviors. What if instead of blaming your thoughts and brain wiring for your actions you could approach it as a tool for recovery?

If you are concerned about a loved one that may have an eating disorder read more about some of the common signs.

Sources:
https://www.recoverywarriors.com/what-is-neuroplasticity-and-what-does-it-have-to-do-with-eating-disorders/
https://www.edcatalogue.com/connections-brain-urges-binge-purge/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/london-taxi-memory/
https://healthtransformer.co/the-neuroscience-of-behavior-change-bcb567fa83c1