Eating Disorder Awareness About Developmental Etiology

November 11th, 2008 by admin

Research from a family systems perspective indicates that eating disorders stem from both the adolescent’s difficulty in separating from over-controlling parents, and disturbed patterns of communication. When parents are critical and unaffectionate, their children are more prone to becoming self-destructive and self-critical, and have difficulty developing the skills to engage in self-care giving behaviors. Such developmental failures in early relationships with others, particularly maternal empathy, impairs the development of an internal sense of self and leads to an over-dependence on the environment. When coping strategies have not been developed in the family system, food and drugs serve as a substitute.

Addiction Awareness About Trauma

Eating disorders should also be understood in the context of experienced trauma, with many eating problems beginning as survival strategies rather than vanity or obsession with appearance. According to sociologist Becky Thompson, eating disorders stemming from women of varying socio-economic status, sexual orientation and race, and finds that eating disorders and a disconnected relationship with one’s body is commonly a response to environmental stresses, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, racism, and poverty. This reality is further detrimental for women of color and other minority women, since they are forced to live in a culture that embraces a narrowly defined conception of beauty: “people furthest from the dominant ideal of beauty, specifically women of color, may suffer the psychological effects of low self-esteem, poor body image, and eating disorders.”

Addiction Awareness About Gender Differences

“Frequent dieting and trying to look like persons in the media were independent predictors of binge eating in females of all ages. In males, negative comments about weight by fathers was predictive of starting to binge at least weekly.”

Exercise addiction is common in men and women, especially in those who suffer from eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is the result of a fear of becoming fat, a rude dislike of the piknoid body type and allowing their need to stay fit to overtake their lives. Exercise addicts are risking their health in order to get a “runner’s high.” They are in search of the ideal body type and place the importance of exercise above the needs of their children, parents, friends and health.

Binge eating disorder (BED), is a psychiatric disorder in which a subject shows the following symptoms:

* Periodically does not exercise control over consumption of food
* Eats an unusually large amount of food at one time — more than a normal person would eat in the same amount of time.
* Eats much more quickly during binge episodes than during normal eating episodes
* Eats until physically uncomfortable
* Eats large amounts of food even when they are not really hungry
* Usually eats alone during binge eating episodes, in order to avoid discovery of the disorder
* Often eats alone during periods of normal eating, owing to feelings of embarrassment about food
* Feels disgusted, depressed, or guilty after binge eating

Addiction Awareness About Relationship to other eating disorders

Binge eating symptoms are also present in bulimia nervosa. The formal diagnosis criteria are similar in that subjects must binge at least twice per week for a minimum period of three months. Unlike in bulimia, those with BED do not purge, fast or engage in strenuous exercise after binge eating. Additionally, bulimics are typically of normal weight, are underweight but have been overweight before, or slightly overweight, whereas those with binge eating disorder are typically overweight or obese.

Binge eating disorder is similar to, but it is distinct from, compulsive overeating. Those with BED do not have a compulsion to overeat and do not spend a great deal of time fantasizing about food. On the contrary, some people with binge eating disorder have very negative feelings about food. As with other eating disorders, binge eating is an “expressive disorder” — a disorder that is an expression of deeper psychological problems. Some researchers believe BED is a milder form, or subset of bulimia nervosa, while others argue that it is its own distinct disorder. Currently, the DSM-IV categorizes it under Eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS), an indication that more research is needed.