How to Understand the Causes of Eating Disorders

Many people fail to understand the causes of eating disorders. They believe that someone who struggles with anorexia is “cured” if you can just get her to eat. Some make jokes about a person who overeats and then purges. People who have never wrestled with an eating disorder might not understand the intensity and complexity involved.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize that eating disorders are symptoms of a deeper issue. Eating disorders do not happen in a vacuum. For example, it is common for people who were abused as children to develop eating disorders. Many survivors of child abuse turn to eating disorders to help them manage their many powerful and painful emotions.

• 2

  Realize that eating disorders are coping mechanisms. Just as a person might turn to alcohol to “drown” his sorrows, people who struggle with eating disorders are using their bodies to manage their painful emotions.

• 3

  Understand that anorexia is about establishing control. A person who feels like her life is spinning out of control might turn to anorexia to provide herself with the illusion of control. For example, a woman who could not control being sexually abused might turn to controlling the size of her body. Also, people who want to “feel invisible” or do not want to “be seen” might turn to anorexia to “disappear.”

• 4

  Be aware that bulimia often fits two different profiles. Some people are drawn to the “stuffing down” part of bulimia. As they eat large quantities of food, they are able to “stuff down” painful emotions. They only purge to regulate their body weight. Others are drawn to bulimia because of the purging aspect. By purging food, they are attempting to “purge” the emotional pain.

• 5

  Learn that binge eating is an eating disorder as well. Many people are unaware that anorexia and bulimia are not the only two eating disorders from which people suffer. Those who struggle with binge eating are similar in profile to a person who is drawn to the “stuffing down” aspect of bulimia. Binge eating is basically bulimia without the purging.

• 6

  Appreciate that there are other forms of eating disorders as well. For example, a person might only eat one particular food for weeks at a time. This person might fear change because changes in that person’s life brought about trauma. Each form of eating disorder reveals something about the emotional state of the person.

• 7

  Respect that eating disorders do not just go away. Eating disorders are effective, albeit physically damaging, coping tools, which makes it easy for a person who has wrestled with an eating disorder in the past to return to the behaviors when faced with stress. A person who has struggled with an eating disorder will remain vulnerable to falling into old patterns.