Joanna, your statement indicating that “the number one cause of eating disorders” is either consistent penetration or neglect during childhood of a person’s “physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, sexual and creative boundaries” is problematic in a number of ways. First, there is no evidence that your statement is true. It would be big news to eating disorder professionals and researchers if it were. Second, by trumpeting this false statement, you perpetuate old stereotypes and lead people astray from the really important new and evidence-based information about eating disorders that could actually help sufferers and their families.
The good news is that in most cases when family-based Maudsley therapy is used, there is full recovery-not the nebulous half-life of being able to function but not at a truly healthy weight and with all the disordered thinking still present. We should all be shouting this from the rooftops instead of spending any time on statements such as yours. And, yes, it is more difficult to treat adult sufferers, precisely because they are independent and in most cases cannot be forced into treatment that their eating disorder doesn’t want. So let’s catch it early, cure it early, when parents are around and are indeed legally obligated to do the heavy lifting when their children are ill.
There is increasing evidence that malnutrition for any reason in genetically predisposed people is what triggers an eating disorder. It was certainly the case with my daughter. She was about to enter puberty, wasn’t happy with her body and decided to “go on a little diet and lose a few pounds” (without telling her parents, of course). She didn’t go through puberty for another 7 years. The current culture’s definition of beauty includes increasingly thinner body types. So more people go on diets, become malnourished, and those who are predisposed to manifesting an ED are at grave risk of getting one.
And, Joanna, I would be very careful about believing everything your adult clients say about their childhoods. ED sufferers are known for their twisted thinking and perceptions. You say that your clients are medically cleared for outpatient therapy and that all eating disorder sufferers are not malnourished. My daughter had outpatient therapy with a BMI of 11. Adults are not going to seek treatment unless they are desperate and unhealthy. And all people with eating disorders are malnourished, unless they are already on the big upswing, have been fully restored to optimal weight, continue to get full, daily nutrition and are in a stage where their recovering brains and thinking are catching up to their well-nourished bodies. My own daughter complained for years about how horrible we treated her and how much she hated us. Now, she will testify to anyone about just what an ideal childhood she had and how my husband and I are the greatest parents ever. I am not saying that some ED patients didn’t have horrific childhoods, but only in the same percentage as the general population.
Comment Reply
Joanna, your statement indicating that “the number one cause of eating disorders” is either consistent penetration or neglect during childhood of a person’s “physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, sexual and creative boundaries” is problematic in a number of ways. First, there is no evidence that your statement is true. It would be big news to eating disorder professionals and researchers if it were. Second, by trumpeting this false statement, you perpetuate old stereotypes and lead people astray from the really important new and evidence-based information about eating disorders that could actually help sufferers and their families.
The good news is that in most cases when family-based Maudsley therapy is used, there is full recovery-not the nebulous half-life of being able to function but not at a truly healthy weight and with all the disordered thinking still present. We should all be shouting this from the rooftops instead of spending any time on statements such as yours. And, yes, it is more difficult to treat adult sufferers, precisely because they are independent and in most cases cannot be forced into treatment that their eating disorder doesn’t want. So let’s catch it early, cure it early, when parents are around and are indeed legally obligated to do the heavy lifting when their children are ill.
There is increasing evidence that malnutrition for any reason in genetically predisposed people is what triggers an eating disorder. It was certainly the case with my daughter. She was about to enter puberty, wasn’t happy with her body and decided to “go on a little diet and lose a few pounds” (without telling her parents, of course). She didn’t go through puberty for another 7 years. The current culture’s definition of beauty includes increasingly thinner body types. So more people go on diets, become malnourished, and those who are predisposed to manifesting an ED are at grave risk of getting one.
And, Joanna, I would be very careful about believing everything your adult clients say about their childhoods. ED sufferers are known for their twisted thinking and perceptions. You say that your clients are medically cleared for outpatient therapy and that all eating disorder sufferers are not malnourished. My daughter had outpatient therapy with a BMI of 11. Adults are not going to seek treatment unless they are desperate and unhealthy. And all people with eating disorders are malnourished, unless they are already on the big upswing, have been fully restored to optimal weight, continue to get full, daily nutrition and are in a stage where their recovering brains and thinking are catching up to their well-nourished bodies. My own daughter complained for years about how horrible we treated her and how much she hated us. Now, she will testify to anyone about just what an ideal childhood she had and how my husband and I are the greatest parents ever. I am not saying that some ED patients didn’t have horrific childhoods, but only in the same percentage as the general population.
June 7, 2009 - 4:24pmThis Comment
Reply