The view that interpersonal interactions within the family cause eating disorders was widely accepted in the 1970s and 1980s when Ms. Poppink was educated, but has been discredited in the modern era. For example, the official position of the American Psychiatric Association is that "It is essential that the clinician avoid articulating theories that imply blame or permit family members to blame one another or themselves for the patient's disorder. No evidence exists to prove that families cause eating disorders."
http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=138866
In addition, the National Eating Disorders Association has issued a press release saying "Misstatements and ignorance claiming that families cause eating disorders is like blaming parents for diabetes or asthma or cancer." http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=918 The fact is that nobody, including the leading experts in the world, know what causes anorexia, bulimia, or other clinical eating disorders. Further, nothing is gained by speculating about cause. And much needless suffering has resulted from trying to uncover some hidden cause. When our family let go of the search for cause we were able to turn our energy instead to helping our daughter recover. We emphasized full nutrition and refeeding above all else. Today she is fully recovered from her bout of anorexia and as a family we are all back to where we were before the illness struck. The lesson for us was that, like other illnesses where cause is unknown, focus on the cure, not the cause. That's what I like about www.feast-ed.org and www.maudsleyparents.org
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The view that interpersonal interactions within the family cause eating disorders was widely accepted in the 1970s and 1980s when Ms. Poppink was educated, but has been discredited in the modern era. For example, the official position of the American Psychiatric Association is that "It is essential that the clinician avoid articulating theories that imply blame or permit family members to blame one another or themselves for the patient's disorder. No evidence exists to prove that families cause eating disorders."
June 9, 2009 - 9:37amhttp://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=138866
In addition, the National Eating Disorders Association has issued a press release saying "Misstatements and ignorance claiming that families cause eating disorders is like blaming parents for diabetes or asthma or cancer." http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=918 The fact is that nobody, including the leading experts in the world, know what causes anorexia, bulimia, or other clinical eating disorders. Further, nothing is gained by speculating about cause. And much needless suffering has resulted from trying to uncover some hidden cause. When our family let go of the search for cause we were able to turn our energy instead to helping our daughter recover. We emphasized full nutrition and refeeding above all else. Today she is fully recovered from her bout of anorexia and as a family we are all back to where we were before the illness struck. The lesson for us was that, like other illnesses where cause is unknown, focus on the cure, not the cause. That's what I like about www.feast-ed.org and www.maudsleyparents.org
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