A light emitting device is provided which is capable of feeding a reverse current to the defective structural part of a light emitting element, e.g. an organic EL element, without using the power supply voltage as reverse bias. The light emitting device comprises a capacitive light emitting element, e.g. an organic EL element, emitting light upon application of a DC forward voltage. A reverse current can be fed to the light emitting element through a low-resistance defective structural part, for example, only by connecting both electrodes of the organic EL element with the earth after stopping application of the DC forward voltage using a push-pull circuit (5), thereby discharging residual charges of the light emitting element.