Eating Disorders is an epidemic that affects between 3.6 to 12.9% of the American Population within their lifetime (www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/eatingdisorders.cfm). Of those suffering, about 90% are female (Kinoy, 1994). The three main types of Eating Disorders are: anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive eating.
Eating Disorders are often a misunderstood condition. Some people believe the person with anorexia or with bulimia just wants to be thin because this is socially desirable. Others believe that the compulsive eater just loves to eat, and that is the end of the story. This is not true. Eating Disorders are not just a physical condition when a person either needs to gain or lose some weight. Eating Disorders are a psychosomatic disorder, meaning that it is an emotional disorder that manifests itself physically.
Why are Eating Disorders psychosomatic? Because people use food, something physical, to handle their emotions. People use food to handle their emotions because it is something within their control that they can manage. The person may feel like many areas of their life are out of control, but they can find some comfort in knowing that they can at least control their intake of food.
People use food to not only manage their emotions, but as a way to distance themselves from their problems. As Geneen Roth (1991) explained, “The obsession with food gives us a safe place into which we can place all our feelings of disappointment, rage, sorrow. As long as we are obsessed with food, we always have a concrete reason that explains our pain”(p. 63-64). The person with an eating disorder chooses to focus on food, rather than their inner struggles.
To recover from an eating disorder, individual therapy is often necessary. Within therapy the person will discover all the reasons why food was chosen to distance themselves from their pain. The person can also learn to face their pain and work through the emotional core of the disorder in an emotionally safe environment. Finally, the person will learn how to separate their emotions from their food intake so that, ultimately, eating is a purely physical activity and emotions are dealt with through talking, journaling, and reaching out to loved ones, etc.
Also for recovery, group therapy may be helpful, as well as seeing a nutritionist who is trained in working with eating disordered patients. In cases where there are severe physical complications from the eating disorder, impatient therapy may be needed.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, the important thing to remember is that recovery is possible and help is readily available. You are important enough to reach out and get help, so do not hesitate.
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