Meditation has been widely used as an effective adjunct to psychotherapy in the treatment of various conditions (e.g. anxiety, depression, stress, etc). Meditation that emphasizes a non-critical, self-acceptance approach (here termed forgiveness meditation) helps patients gain greater self-awareness and acceptance of life-circumstances; this translates into a more beneficial state of mind. Recently, this meditation has also been used to treat people with Binge-Eating Disorder (BED), as it may have the potential to facilitate behavioral self-regulation.

Binge-Eating Disorder (BED) is a psychological disorder characterized by frequent episodes of uncontrollable food consumption (normally, of unusually large amounts). These episodes are generally triggered by anxiety, stress, distorted thought patterns, poor self-awareness, etc. Individuals with BED are often plagued with feelings of guilt, dysphoria and low self-esteem. In order to better understand how meditation affects the treatment of BED, a study was conducted by the Department of Psychology at Indiana State University, in which 18 obese women were evaluated during a 6-week, meditation-based group intervention for BED.

The primary focus of treatment was the use of mindfulness meditation techniques, targeting the development of a focused, yet detached, participant-awareness of all “objects of attention,” including passing thoughts, emotions or bodily sensations. Particular focus was placed on awareness of behavior, cognition, and emotions that are associated with food intake. For the purpose of research analysis, participants made weekly reports on the number of binge-eating episodes they experienced, and rated the episodes as “large” or “small.” They also rated sense of self-control, mindfulness while eating, hunger awareness and recognition of satiety cues.

After the meditation-based intervention, both the number and the proportion of binge-eating episodes decreased noticeably. Conversely, a significant increase was noted in participants’ sense of control, mindfulness, awareness of hunger and recognition of satiety cues while eating. Though there was no overall change in weight among participants, the average levels of anxiety, depression, dysphoria and other sensations that usually accompany binge-eating all fell to non-clinical levels.

As such, meditation appears to contribute to the success of BED intervention when practiced as a detached and non-judgmental mindfulness towards self. Additionally, half of the participants also reported that forgiveness meditation helped them resolve considerable feelings of anger toward parents or spouses—feelings regarded as common binge-episode triggers.

[＊] Information for this article was obtained from the original study by Jean L. Kristeller at the Department of Psychology, Indiana State University and C. Brendan Hallett at Project Reality, Salt Lake City, Utah: “An Exploratory Study of a Meditation-based Intervention for Binge Eating Disorder,” published in Journal of Health Psychology, 4 Vol. (3), 1999: 357-363.