Eating Disorders
..., depression, or stress. Kolodny (1992) asserts that: Having difficulty accepting your physical self, having problems accepting a discrepancy between your ideal body-image and the real one, and being misinformed or underinformed about the physical side of life…can put you at risk of developing an eating disorder. (p. 18) Whether a person restricts their intake of food, binges and purges, or compulsively overeats, these behaviours are often just symptoms and are not the major/underlying problem. We live in a society that glorifies thinness and flawlessness which causes many people to feel a sense of inadequacy regarding their own bodies. It has become increasingly difficult for most people to live up to the ideals forced upon them by society. The truth is that this standard of perfection is impossible to attain if a person is to remain physically (and mentally) healthy. As a result, people develop destructive habits. Although having such habits does not necessarily lead to having an eating disorder, some routines can contribute to the formation of eating disorders (Kolodny, 1992). The author writes: Unfortunately, some habits start out as once-in-a-while behaviours and turn into activities that dominate your thoughts to such an extreme that you become obsessed with them, and once obsessed you feel a compulsion or urge to do them in spite of knowing better. This is basically what happens with the dieting patterns of anorectics or the bingeing and purging behaviours of bulimics. (p. 30) When someone develops an eating disorder, habits often flip from the normal range to the destructive end of the continuum. With anorexia and bulimia, normal eating habits are replaced by “obsessive thoughts about food and the compulsive dieting or bingeing and purging – acts that ease and satisfy the obsessions” (Kolodny, 1992, p. 38). Anorexia is a dangerous eating disorder that can harm its victims physically and mentally as they starve themselves in their quest for thinness. Through willpower, anorexia’s victims deny and suppress their hunger, sometimes even revelling in this feat as a proof that they have strength and self-control. However, the person often loses this self-control and starts to binge, thus moving themselves into a bulimic pattern, which results in feelings of guilt and fear. To combat these feelings, the person will purge, similar to a bulimic, and then return to their anorexic habits (Kolodny, 1992). The person becomes so entangled in their habits and their addiction that the “binge becomes a focus of [their] energies…[They] may find that [they] need that binge in order to move from one aspect of [their] day to another” (Kolodny, 1992, p. 72). In addition to coping with the habits and behaviours associated with an eating disorder, it is reported that people who struggle with anorexia and bulimia have a great risk for having an addiction to alcohol and other drugs. One explanation for this link is that the addictive or compulsive attitudes developed toward certain behaviours or substances are in relation to another behaviour or substance (Jonas, 1992). Another common notion is that “eating disorders and alcohol or drug abuse co-vary because they both are ‘addictions’” (Jonas, 1992). This rationalization has developed from the similarity of certain behaviours that are seen in both disorders: “craving a substance, repeating a behaviour, using the substance or performing the behaviour secretly, suffering negative consequences from the substance or behaviour, and having no control over the substance or behaviour” (Jonas, 1992). When habits move in the direction of obsessions, compulsions, or addictions, and/or are associated with other addictions, their impact is negative on the mind, body, and relations with others. The maintenance of rituals takes a lot of time and energy. The addict begins paying more attention to the thing that they are obsessed with than they do to their friends, family, school, or work-related responsibilities. Relationships suffer as communication with friends, family, and others stops being two-way and often ceases altogether (Kolodny, 1992). The person may become very self-centred and choose to isolate themselves as much as possible. Kolodny maintains that: When [they] do reach out and try to spend time with other people [they] can alienate them easily. [Their] whole routine changes as [their] personality and sense of identity become enmeshed with the [addiction] and all [their] efforts are geared to maintaining the eating disorder. (p. 50) They may find that their interests start to become narrowly focused and they eventually end up fixed only on their obsession or addiction. Once the habit is transformed into something that controls a person, rather than something they can control, the impact is clearly destructive. At that stage, it can be very difficult for the person to regain control without professional counselling or medical intervention (Kolodny, 1992). The first step in fighting an eating disorder is admitting it exists. The person must be willing to “develop a level of self-awareness that will let [them] try to figure out why things have reached the state they’re in” (Kolodny, 1992, p. 83). If the person is not ready to accept help, if they feel protected by the eating disorder, or have no interest in listening to other people’s concerns, any attempts at changing their mind can feel like a power struggle and the concerns will often go unnoticed. Kolodny (1992) notes that because having anorexia and/or bulimia isolates a person from the people and events in their environment, “‘coming out’ may just well be the ultimate act of courage” as it is “a self-revelation that exposes the core of [their vulnerability – the eating disorder – and gives other people the opportunity to understand and help” (p. 113). By acknowledging the fact that they cannot “go it alone anymore,” they are making a commitment to allow someone else to help them. If they are “willing to accept help, [they] may be willing to get involved in some kind of psychotherapy” (Kolodny, 1992, p. 128). There are numerous types of psychotherapy including individual, long-term, short-term, behavioural, cognitive, cognitive-behavioural, family, group, self-help, and drug therapy. In addition, therapy for eating disorders should include consultations with a nutritionist who will determine if the person’s understanding of the role of food and nutrition in their life is accurate and will correct any misinformation. As well, the nutritionist can help devise meal plans and strategies to combat food-related obsessions and compulsions (Kolodny, 1992). The person may become involved in a combination of these therapies with several different health care professionals depending on their needs, stage of recovery, and on who is available in their community to help. According to Art Aragon (1997), one of the drawbacks of recovery is the possibility of relapse behaviour, which “manifest themselves through negative and distorted thinking, difficulty managing emotions, and new...