Number One Reason for Developing an Eating Disorder

There are many different ways to go about getting help for an eating disorder, but receiving the proper advice and treatment is extremely important. Eating disorders are very dangerous, and should not be left untreated due to the fact that over time the disease will only continue to worsen. Eatingdisorder.com is a very useful and helpful informational site about the different types of eating disorders, their symptoms and causes, treatment options that are available and more. I think this site is something that should be looked at by those who are in need of help with an eating disorder.

Look, there are a lot of 'theories' out there about what cause eating disorders. Its very confusing to parents. Is it a choice? Or an illness that is 'not a choice'? How you view what causes an eating disorder will determine how you treat it.

Human beings are complex, no question. Dr. Walter Kaye's research has shown that people who develop eating disorders typically suffer from childhood anxiety pre-eating disorder. Does this mean their 'boundaries were invaded' in a relentless and sustained way? No, not necessarily. Cynthia Bulik has described sufferers as having certain personality traits .

"...A childhood tendency that Bulik calls neuroticism may be an indicator for parents, doctors, and teachers to screen for children who are genetically predisposed to anorexia before they become sick.

“These kids are emotional Velcro,” Bulik says. Troubles that roll off other children’s backs really stick to them, and sometimes so subtly that their parents can’t tell. They tend to be well behaved and smart, but anxious and depressed, often about things over which they have no control—a dead animal in the road, for instance..."

Does this mean that others, parents included, have violated their boundaries? NO. To the contrary, these children may be well supported by their families, yet just plain highly sensitive. You do great damage to others in the family with these suppositions. Are the families of eating disordered patients perfect? Heck no. I'd never claim that. But neither are the families of children with cancer, diabetes, autism, schizophrenia or any other host of ailments.

Yes, I have lived through this difficult illness twice now...a sister and a daughter. I've also worked in a facility that treated young anorexics back in the '80's. I also have an undergraduate degree in social work and a master's degree in a related field and have worked directly with children for the past 25 years. I am in a 'related field' so to speak. My personal experience with this illness, twice over, has certainly affected my own attitudes toward mental health and families. First do no harm. And, my feeling is, the present very common approach to treating eating disorders is often quite hurtful to and exclusive of families. It often "listens" to eating disordered patients, sometimes lending credence to some of their cognitive distortions, which at times include distorted beliefs about families, friends, etc. Families, who one would think just might have clearer insight (not being starved or eating disordered, mind you) are often brushed asided, their contacted limited with their family member (if inpatient), their views questioned. At best, they are seen as expendable; at worst, they are excluded.

With my own daughter, I often found her thinking irrational and distorted at the height of her illness. It was a puzzle to me why I was told to 'listen to her' as though she were a fully functioning teen capable of making good decisions. At the time, she was clearly not. I loved her, but I knew she was not well or her usual self.

My points are pretty simple. This is a biologically based illness (Dr. Thomas Insel, head of NIMH, has said so himself), food is first and food is medicine, families are an ally in helping ill members back to wellness, treatment for anxiety and depression should take place (if needed, and they aren't always) once full nutrition has been re-established. Families should never be blamed. There is no evidence that families cause eating disorders and implying this can cause lasting damage (I also suffered PTSD over my daughter's long illness and recovery--a significant factor being the blame I felt for this illness). Is another family member's mental health worth less than the ED patient's? An approach that respects and supports the whole family is needed--and can be hard to find.

I am speaking up because I've had enough. I don't believe families are at fault--or any worse than other families. I am yelling that 'the emperor has no clothes.'

anne

Read the Minnesota Starvation Study. It is a real eye opener as to the effects of starvation on a group of normal young men. Sound like an eating disorder? You bet!

anne

http://www.possibility.com/wiki/index.php?title=EffectsOfSemiStarvation

As one with years of contact with people with EDs, and a fair measure of experience with their parents as well, I find it difficult and perhaps unwise to stereotype the sufferer’s background. While we all are rightfully looking for answers as to the causality of EDs, at this point in time it seems wisest to look to the broadest range of possibility.

Having said that, I believe that many people with EDs have suffered exactly the same sets of circumstances that Joanna sets forth. Abuse and boundary violations play a huge role in the development of EDs for all too many people.

Yet how are we to explain the fact that given the same set of circumstances, some people will develop an ED while others will not ? The explanation would seem to indicate that temperament plays a larger role than those who seek to narrow things down may currently acknowledge, and may exert such a strong influence that children may develop EDs under "good enough" parenting as well.

Currently there seems to be many different camps when it comes to explaining ED etiology. The recent movement to pooh-pooh and discount the early findings of Hilde Bruch is one example of this, even in the face of some suffers who come from exactly the backgrounds Bruch described.

Expensive private residential treatment programs seem particularly prone to the currently popular “The Parents are never to blame" position. Yet when it is parents who are asked pay the sort of fees such places often demand, such institutional positions can all too easily be seen as self-serving rather than evidence-based. All one has to do is listen to the horror stories from the childhoods of some sufferers to understand that stating this position is professionally irresponsible and without basis in fact.

At the same time, many people with EDs appear to come from authentically loving and conscientious homes. The range of backgrounds for people with EDs seems a wide one.

My sense is that every single one of the various etiological stances will find validity in certain individual cases, and that when it comes to producing an all-encompassing theory of ED development one is wise to remain open-minded, and not cleave too closely to any particular stance.

Oops, double post.

This is exactly why evidenced-based research is essential. Children with a variety of ailments come from a variety of families. Blanket statements are incredibly harmful about any illness, ED's included and perhaps especially. And, more importantly, it flies in the face of current research.

When you are dealing with an illness of denial and distortion, you must-as a therapist-take this into account. I have SO much more to say on this, but am off to work.

My main point this morning is that there are real people and real families out here struggling with this illness. It is disheartening to be pre-judged as 'violators' and 'possible abusers' the minute we walk in the door (and we have been historically and still too often are).

I find it interesting that you say private residential places do not blame parents. That was not my experience at all. That was the place I felt it the most. We were not even allowed to see my 14 year old daughter for 5 weeks--and there was absolutely no good reason for this. It was inhumane. Had I more courage--or not so desperate to get her refed at the time--I would have pulled her out of there in a heartbeat.

anne

As the daughter of a chronic bulimic (my mother is now 70 years old), I feel comfortable saying that my grandmother had everything to do with my mother developing an eating disorder. She was domineering, hurtful and created an environment hostile to expression of feelings. (I should mention that I adored my grandmother but I saw how she interacted with my mother). As a result, my mother turned to food and developed a life-long problem that remains unresolved. I am on the side of holding parents responsible if they are contributors to a child developing an eating disorder. Growing up the daughter of a bulimic mother profoundly affected me and my ability to experience feelings without using food to mediate those feelings. Joanna's article resonated for me and my experience.