“I Binge When I Feel Nothing”: Understanding Emotional Numbing and Overeating

When most people think about binge eating, they imagine someone overwhelmed with emotions like stress, sadness, anxiety, or boredom. But what often gets missed is that binge eating can also happen when someone feels nothing at all.

This kind of emotional numbing, (feeling detached, flat, or disconnected) can be just as triggering as any intense emotion. And for many people with binge eating disorder, that emotional emptiness becomes the hardest part to talk about.

The Connection Between Bingeing Eating and Numbing

Emotional numbing is exactly what it sounds like: a sense of not really feeling anything. Not happy, not sad, just a sensation of blankness. It can show up after chronic stress, trauma, or long-term emotional suppression. Sometimes it looks like burnout. Other times, it feels like moving through your day on autopilot. And for people with binge eating disorder, numbing becomes a major trigger for eating in large amounts, even when they’re not hungry or objectively upset.

Food is sensory. It brings taste, texture, temperature, and fullness. When you’re emotionally numb, bingeing can offer something. It can provide some sort of a sensation that gives even a brief moment of feeling.

For some, binge eating brings a sense of being grounded or “back in their body.” For others, it may even bring guilt or discomfort, which, while painful, can feel more real than emotional emptiness. It’s not about lack of willpower. It’s about looking for a way to feel connected again.

Not everyone recognizes when they’re emotionally numb. But here are a few signs that binge eating might be connected to disconnection, not just emotional overload:

• You don’t feel much of anything before a binge

• You feel like you’re “on autopilot”

• You eat quickly or without tasting your food

• You don’t remember what you ate, or why

• You notice that bingeing sometimes feels like the only time you check in with your body
  

Many clients describe it as eating “just to feel something.” And that experience is more common than most people realize.

Binge eating disorder is already misunderstood. When you add in emotional numbness, it can become even harder to recognize and name. Parents may not notice anything is wrong, especially if their teen or young adult seems calm or “fine.” Providers may assume a lack of emotional reactivity means treatment is working. And clients may wonder why they binge when “nothing’s even wrong.” But emotional absence is a kind of distress, too. And it deserves just as much support.

What Can Help Instead:

If this resonates, know that you're not broken. Your brain and body are trying to do something important: help you feel again. It may not be working the way you want it to, but it makes sense.

Here are a few gentle ways to start shifting the pattern:

• Name it: Try saying, “I notice I feel numb right now.” Naming the experience creates space to respond differently.

• Reconnect with sensation: Warm tea, holding ice, walking barefoot, stretching, any activities that bring you back to your body without using food.

• Come from a place of curiosity, not control: Ask yourself, “What might be underneath this? What feels difficult to feel?” instead of “Why did I do that again?”

• Bring it into therapy: Numbing is hard to notice, let alone talk about. But, it usually gets easier to understand when you’re not trying to figure it out alone
  

Final Thoughts

Binge eating isn’t always obvious or fueled by intense emotions. Sometimes it happens in the absence of feeling. And that version of the disorder is just as valid, and just as worthy of support. If you or someone you care about is stuck in a cycle of bingeing and disconnect, support is available, even if it doesn’t feel urgent yet.