Eating disorder complex problem
The Adamses were puzzled. Mrs. Adams had discovered several used containers of laxative sin their 15-year-old daughter Tracy’s room. Neither she nor her husband remembered purchasing a large quantity of such medicines. They couldn’t imagine what use their bright, attractive, popular daughter would have for laxatives in such doses.
Recently they had noticed that Tracy expressed concern about losing weight, for maintain a flat stomach she had stopped eating meals with the family. The Admass had interpreted Tracy’s eating habits and weight concern as being normal adolescent behavior. Now they were not so sure.
Kim is a sophomore at a state university. During her junior year in high school, she decided to lose 15 pounds after she over heard some friends comment on her size. A friend taught her to vomit after eating in order to lose weight. It seemed like the ideal solution at the time. She found she could eat whatever she wanted, even to the point of extreme overeating, and still not gain weight.
Now, four year later, she vomits or purges each day, sometimes as many as 10 or more times. She is obsessed with food. She feels ashamed of the way she abuses food. Even if it isn’t consistent with the image she presents to her friends, she experiences a strange sense of calm and relaxation after a binge on food. Often food has been stolen from roommates or grocery stores.
Kim is most worried about the way her weight interferes with her social life. On days she feels “fat,” she isolates herself and goes through the binge-purge cycle repeatedly. Afraid of unfavorable reactions, she can’t discuss this with her family or friends. She is becoming more and more depressed.
Tracy and Kim illustrate different types of eating disorders related to an obsessive fear of being fat and a strong dependence on dieting for feelings of self-acceptance. Estimates are that eight of 10 individuals with eating disorders are female, that 5 percent of all American women have an eating disorder and 20 percent of college women display some form of eating disorder. Overall, the percentage of individuals developing an eating disorder appears to be on the increase.
Anorexia nervosa, which is self-starving behavior coupled with a distorted body image, and bulimia, which is typified by gorging and then purging through vomiting or use of laxatives or diuretics, are two forms of eating disorders increasingly brought to public attention. They are complex emotional conditions that increase the risk of serious physical consequences, including loss of dental enamel, rupture of the stomach, permanent disfigurement of the face, chronic ear, salivary gland and sinus infections, liver damage, renal failure, possible development of bowel tumors and cardiac arrest. Treatment time for an eating disorder may be lengthy.
Abusive eating behaviors may be brought on by criticism from parents and friends. Concern over sexual conflicts, failing, teasing, a death in the family, an illness of the mother or romantic rejection may lead to eating disorders. These people are often passive and have overwhelming feelings of helplessness which may at times mask behind defiance of family rules. The need to control some part of their lives results in inconsistent eating patterns, alternating between periods of near starvation and periods of gorging.
The treatment of eating disorders is complex and varied. Professional care usually begins with consultation with the family physician who then consults a mental health professional.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1984
