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In a culture that defines a
person by their body and equates being thin with the
rights to respect, love, getting noticed and
acknowledged, wearing nice clothes, and being
appreciated, the temptation to pursue thinness at
any cost can be powerful…particularly during
summertime when bulky coats and sweaters are
exchanged for more revealing shirts and thinner
fabrics. Many women, and some men, look to
unhealthy restrictive dieting in their quests to
lose weight. Dieting is the most common precursor
to the development of disordered eating patterns.
Below are the two prevalent eating behavior cycles
of eating disorders:
Dieting Cycles:
Toward Bulimia, Binge Eating
Disorder, or Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
(EDNOS):
Food restriction
à
feelings of deprivation
à
pre-occupation with food
à
overeating/binges
à
guilt/shame/dissatisfaction with body
à REPEAT
CYCLE
—or—
Toward Anorexia or Eating
Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS):
Food restriction
à
feelings of elation/power/control
à
continued restriction
à body
chemistry disrupted
à
cognitive thinking distorted and food rituals
develop à
unhealthy body image/feel fat
à REPEAT
CYCLE
Contributing
Factors/Conceptualization:
Dieting and the desire to fit
the thin ideal are not the only contributing
factors, or even the primary impetus, toward the
development of an eating disorder. No different
than other addictions and emotional struggles,
eating disorders often begin as a way of coping with
a variety of emotional pains and turmoil in life.
As infants, we enter a broken world filled with
broken people and contribute our own sinful nature
to life. Yet, created in God’s image, we were made
for wholeness and perfect relationships with God,
our selves, and others.
In this unnatural environment,
as humans, we resort to maladaptive coping
mechanisms to protect ourselves from pain and
attempt to make life work. Eating disorders can
serve a variety of functions in the lives of
individuals including creating a false sense of
control, offering an identity, minimizing painful
emotions, re-orienting family dynamics, dramatizing
internal experiences of life, and delaying the onset
of puberty, among other purposes.
Often the internal experience
of a person struggling with disordered eating is
consumed by a constant preoccupation with
food/calories, critical self-talk, anxiety/fear,
numbness, and feelings of isolation. Additionally,
body image distortion and embarrassment for eating
behaviors is commonly present in individuals
struggling with disordered eating.
If you or a friend is
struggling with an eating disorder, it is critical
to get help early given the physical complications
of these disorders that affect one’s body and mind.
Eating disorders can impact your heart, your teeth
and mouth, your esophagus and digestive system, and
your bodily organs (kidney, liver) in addition to
making you feel insane! Healing, wholeness, and
hope can surface as a struggler enters into their
life story honestly and begins to understand their
journey and the roots of their eating disorder in a
safe, caring relationship with a therapist.
Signs of an Eating Disorder:
If a person answers TRUE to TWO
of the following questions, it is likely that they
have an eating disorder. SCOFF Questionnaire:
-
Do
you make yourself sick because you feel
uncomfortably full?
-
Do
you worry you have lost control over how much
you eat?
-
Have you recently lost more than 15 pounds in a
three-month period?
-
Do
you believe yourself to be fat when others say
you are too thin?
-
Would you say that food dominates your life?
Resources:
Eating and Body Image Group - Faith-based
12-week small group led by Kelly Maxwell, beginning
in Fall 2010.
Finding
Balance - Faith-based health and wellness
organization with an emphasis on eating and body
image issues. Website includes extensive video
Q&A clips, access to a panel or eating disorder
experts, and a resource store.
Castlewood
Treatment Center - Local St. Louis treatment
center for eating disorders. Website includes
a host of educational power-point presentations,
audio seminars, and blogs.
McCallum
Place - Local St. Louis treatment center for
eating disorders. Website includes eating
disorder fact and treatment information.
Remuda Ranch
- Faith-based eating disorder and anxiety treatment
center located in Wickenburg, AZ. Website
includes links to scholarly articles about eating
disorders and other general information.
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