Eating · Skills
Opposite Action for ED Urges
DBT's skill, translated for restrict / purge / binge / check
DBT's opposite-action skill, translated for ED urges. When the emotion driving the urge doesn't fit the facts (or fits but doesn't serve the life you want), do the opposite — fully, and all the way to the end.
The urge (restrict, purge, binge, over-exercise, body-check, isolate)
The emotion under it (fear, shame, disgust, anger, sadness, emptiness)
Does the emotion fit the facts? Does acting on it serve recovery?
The urge → the opposite
Urge
Opposite action, all the way
Restrict the next meal
Eat the meal in full, on time, with company if possible
Purge
Stay upright, hydrate, brush teeth 30 min later, text support
Binge
Sit with the urge for 20 min, then eat a planned snack — not restrict
Over-exercise
Rest with intention: sit, lie down, do something pleasurable and still
Body-check
Wear fitted clothes, cover the mirror, keep going
Isolate after eating
Sit with people, do something engaging that requires you to stay
Today — the urge I'll act opposite to
How I'll go all the way (not half)
Halfway feeds the disorder
Opposite action only works at full commitment — face, posture, voice, follow-through. Halfway is negotiation. All the way is the intervention.