Eating Disorders

 

Sometimes our internal conflicts and feelings get acted out on our bodies. This is what happens with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, or in activity disorders (such as over-exercising bulimia). Maybe you feel that words have failed you before and you've stopped trying to get people to understand what you are feeling. You may feel that you've been silenced for so long, you no longer have access to what you are feeling, thinking, or needing. Eating Disorders symbolize an internal hunger, something that is eating at you but you don't know who to tell, or how to tell someone about it. At a certain point, it may feel easier to express your ''dangerous" feelings such as: anger, rage, resentment, fear, sadness, loneliness and low self-esteem on your own body. If you are reading this and looking for professional help that is a very brave first step.

Eating Disorder recovery can help you regain your sense of self that has been lost in this obsession with weight, food, exercising, body shape, control and perfection. Therapy can help you identify positive ways to self-soothe and develop more authentic connections with others. It will help you get more comfortable with your feelings and your body. You'll come to understand what drove you to this secret life of self-destruction and make peace with your history. In time, you will no longer feel the need to abuse and deprive yourself, and will learn ways to take good care of yourself emotionally, physically and spiritually. Therapy goes at your pace, and incorporates a multidimensional approach involving nutritional, medical and psychological perspectives. Read below to determine if you may suffer from an eating disorder.

Symptoms and Signs of an Eating Disorder (this is not a complete list):

Are you obsessed and preoccupied with food?
Do you feel guilty after eating?
Do you exhibit rigid rules around food (i.e. no butter, no oil, no dairy, no sugar), the times that you eat or the quantity that you eat?
Do you panic when you are out to dinner and don't have control of portions and preparation of food?
Do you weigh yourself obsessively?
Do you avoid social situations that involve food because you are afraid of dealing with them?
Do you avoid social situations because you think you are too fat, too thin, or you need to spend time exercising?
Do you binge and eat large quantities of food secretly or with an eating disordered partner?
Do you engage in a binge to feel numb and relief only to feel terrible shortly afterwards?
Do you vomit after eating daily/weekly or monthly?
Do you disappear into the bathroom after eating?
Are you terrified of gaining weight?
Do you look for constant reassurance about your body?
Do you hide your body in big shapeless clothing ?
Do you exercise for long periods of time even when you are not feeling well?
Do you exercise several times per day as a means to get rid of your guilt around eating?
Do you cook for others, read food magazines, collect recipes, but never indulge in food yourself?
Are you in denial that you have a problem despite concern around you?
Are you preoccupied with the fat content in foods that you eat or do you only eat non-fat foods?
Are you constantly finding new diets that you go on and off of?
Do you eat or starve when you are angry, sad , lonely or mad?
Do you use laxative, diet pills, diuretics, caffeine pills, ipecac syrup enemas or herbs to help you control your appetite and weight?

* Some questions are taken from The Eating Disorder Sourcebook by Carolyn Costin pgs. 78-79*

If you have answered yes to many of these questions, you may be suffering from an eating disorder. If someone you care about displays some of these behaviors, you may have cause to be concerned. The good news is that with proper interventions, you can fully recover from an eating disorder. For clients as well as significant others, it's important to be patient with this process. There is no quick fix, and expect treatment to be long term (between 2-7 years). For clients, caregivers and significant others, it's important to remember that the eating disorder did not develop overnight and will not leave that quickly either. The road to recovery is difficult but incredibly rewarding.

 

Suggested Reading


1. Your Dieting Daughter by Carolyn Costin
2. The Eating Disorder Sourcebook by Carolyn Costin
3. Bulimia: A Guide for Family and Friends by Roberta Sherman Ph.D and Ron A. Thompson Ph.D
4. The Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron
5. Anatomy of Anorexia Steven Levenkron
6. Feeding the Empty Heart: Adult Children and Compulsive Eating by Barbara McFarland and Tyeis Baker-Baumann
7. The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
8. Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating by Geneen Roth
9. When Food is Love: Exploring the Relationships Between Intimacy and Eating by Geneen Roth
10. Appetites: Why Women Want by Caroline Knapp
11. Eating in the Light of the Moon by Anita Johnston Ph.D
12. Addiction to Perfection by Marion Woodman
13. Living without ED: How one Woman Declared Independence from her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too by Jenni Schaefer and Thom Rutledge
14. Gaining- The Truth About Life after Eating Disorders by Aimee Liu

 

Professional Organizations and Websites that are helpful:

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD)
www.anad.org telephone: (847) 831-3438

Overeaters Anonymous (OA)
www.oa.org telephone: 505-891-2664

National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA)
www.edap.org telephone: 800-931-2237

www.something-fishy.org Eating Disorder Therapist and Group referral source

www.edreferral.com Comprehensive eating disorder referrals website

International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP)
www.iaedp.com telephone: (800)-800-8126