Eating Disorders and Intuitive Healing

February 3, 2012 — admin

Intuition has existed since the dawn of time, when the first hunter-gatherers looked for new hunting grounds sometimes they felt rather than saw or heard where the best catch could be found. Intuition is an ability which exists in all of us; we simply need to look for it, and it can actually be used for healing ourselves and others, once it is found.

Intuitive healing is a healing process when you heal yourself (or others) with the help of your own intuitive voice. It is when you listen to your intuitive voice and interact with it on a higher level.

Eating disorders respond to intuitive healing very well as do many other addictions. The problem with eating disorder sufferers is to hear their own intuitive voice they have to defeat their eating disorder voice. Eating disorder voices are very loud and override all other voices. It takes lots of practice to differentiate between them in your mind.

What is intuition?

Intuition actually means “the ability to acquire knowledge without the use of reason”. The word has been derived from the Latin word “Intueri” which means “to seek inside”. This ability does exist in all of us, we are simply too busy to look for it. Our minds are usually full of noise, especially eating disorder sufferer’s minds.  To hear your intuitive voice you need to blank out all the other noise in your head by clearing your mind.

How can you feel intuition?

Intuition can be felt as a feeling, a hunch, a dream, a sudden thought, a palpable vibration (in more intuitive people) or in countless other ways. The main way that you can distinguish intuition from other thoughts is by the strength of the thought. An intuition thought tells you something out of the blue? It is a feeling that makes you understand something to be true even if all the other senses in your body deny it.

In case of eating disorders the intuitive voice would guide you towards your recovery. If you hear it, it would lovingly tell you to love yourself and divert your thoughts from food to something more positive and constructive.

How can intuition be used for healing?

Most people simply overlook intuition and tend to underestimate its potential. The most important things in intuitive healing are:
- believe that you can be healed by a power that is higher than us.
- always be in a calm, loving state and be connected to the centre of your body
- feel your body’s energy : it can be in a form of subtle vibrations, tingling or other subtle body  sensations.
- ask for the healing of a particular part of the body or mind (this can be done by visualising, or actual asking)

Intuitive healing can be done by connecting to Seven Chakras.

Seven Chakras are seven energy sites that are located within the body. Intuitive healers, shamans and practitioners of Reiki all use these sites to help with the healing process. These chakras run from the tail of the spine all the way to the crown of the head and each part governs a particular functioning of the body. In the case of eating disorders these seven chakras are damaged and doesn’t function properly, blocking the energy flow and making people feel bad.  

Learning about the Seven Chakras and how they transmit and generate energy will help eating disorder sufferers to recover.

Meditation:

Meditation is a tool that will calm your body and mind. Thoughts, emotions and your physiological reactions are linked together. By calming your mind and body you calm your physiological reactions.  Eating disorder sufferers have physiological reactions such as food cravings, urges to overeat and binge, vomiting, anxiety, heart pounding, irritation, moodiness and the like.  With the help of meditation all these physiological reaction will be calmed down.

By connecting to your intuitive voice you will be able to control any eating disorder: anorexia, bulimia or binge eating.   

Believe in it, start learning about it and practice it!  http://www.meditation-sensation.com/

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Food, Love and Gut Feelings.

January 22, 2012 — admin

We live in a time when many people are obsessed with food, eating and body image. The other thing everyone wants is love: to have love in their life and to be loved.  And the third thing people talk about nowadays is about intuitive connections with yourself and the ability to listen to your gut feelings which will guide you to where you want to go.

How do you think food, love and gut feelings are connected?  Well, the reality is that how you eat is how you live your life. The way you eat affects everything in your life: relationships, love, self-talk, beliefs and your energy level.

For example, chaotic erratic eating, like in case of eating disorders always bring a chaotic and erratic life. Avoiding certain foods means avoiding something else in your life which is bigger than food: feelings, emotions, responsibilities, certain people or certain situations.

Let’s see how food and love are connected? Simply you can put it like this: abusing food is denying self-love and promoting self-hatred.  People with anorexia deny the self (their life and love); they have extreme fears and self -hatred.

People with bulimia and binge eating also hate themselves. They have too much pain and feelings of guilt and shame (which is all opposite to love).

People who are on constant diets also deny some or many aspects of their love which make them feel very sensitive, unstable, moody and unsafe.

People who constantly overeat (binge eaters and compulsive overeaters) – associate their love with food and eating. For most of them love is food and other forms of love for them become non-existent.

Unless people become aware of what and how they eat, they will remain victims of their obsessions and will never know what love is.

Now let’s look at the relationship between eating and gut feelings.  The gut has its own mind with up to 500 million nerve cells and 100 million neurons in the gut. The gut remembers everything, what you ate, when you ate and in connection to what feelings and emotions you ate and how.

An eating disorder can start from you being upset once and wanting to calm yourself down so you ate. The eating gave a temporary emotional relieve. Your gut remembers this episode and since that time you continued to use food to “make yourself feel good”.  Every time you binge, you lose control and just let go.  These feelings are addictive and very soon you find yourself consumed by a food addiction.

Your gut feelings are supposed to protect you by sending you messages (intuitive voices) but your body stop listening or maybe your gut just shut itself down when you started abusing food. Intuitive feelings stop working also.  That’s why people with eating disorders often find themselves in situations which are uncomfortable and chaotic.

Obsessive eaters, anorexics and bulimics stop hearing the voice of their own selves and stop being connected with there own selves. The only voice they can hear is the voice of their food obsession which tells them only about bad things.

To start hearing their own voice again (the voice of their gut and intuition) people should become aware of how they eat and realize that the way they eat affects their intuition. Then they should try to discern the voices: their own intuitive voice from the rotten voice of their eating disorder. In order to return your intuitive voice you should listen and follow just your own intuitive voice and ignore the ED voice.

Here are the steps:

  1. Accept that the way you eat affects your whole life.
  2. Find out what it is that you are trying to avoid by abusing food (are these emotions, feelings, people or situations)?
  3. Ask yourself: what is my true love? What do I really want in life?
  4. Meditate and during meditation ask “Who am I? What do I want?”
  5. Identify your own intuitive voice: it is a soft, kind, gentle and positive voice.  Listen to it.

 Freedom from food obsession comes when you realize who you are. When you realize that you are higher than food and that food is only the sustenance to support your body and your body is the temple for your beautiful soul – then you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Loving your soul, listening to your intuitive voice and connecting to your higher self, is the way to recovery and the way to live life. Read more go to http://www.womenhealthsite.com/

Posted in Binge eating, Eating Disorder, Uncategorized, bulimia. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Turning off the obsession genes at cause eating disorders.

July 2, 2011 — admin

By re-identifying your bad eating behavior you can stop your eating disorder - this has been proven more than once.

Some of you may say, “How will I re-identify my behavior to stop my eating disorder?
I got this disease because I have an obsessive gene from my mother. You can’t eradicate this gene from my genetic makeup.”

No, you can’t eradicate the unwanted gene from your genetic makeup and we are not trying to do this. What we are trying to do here is to change your response to the thoughts and feelings your brain generates.

Our genes have two kinds of fundamental properties. One of them is something that is not in our control. We have a certain set of genes we’re born with that keep replicating themselves. 

But the other aspect of our genes is in our control and it can be turned on and off according to how we live our life. This we can do something about, with the help of neuroplasticity.

Our brains are ever changing over the course of our lives. And your brain’s map is going to be determined by what you do day by day. You can start out doing new things today and in three weeks time your brain’s map will be completely different from what it was when you started.

This is what we call brain plasticity (or neuroplasticity), and the human genetic inheritance includes brain plasticity. This process occurs throughout our whole life. Brain plasticity can be controlled and directed if the person is aware of it and if the person wants to change his/her brain.

 It is interesting to note that our genes get turned on and off all the time. Even when you go to sleep some genes are turned on and others are turned off and when you wake in the morning other genes join the game. Research has shown that our thoughts also influence these switches and this gives us a lot more control over our genes that we realise.

 Now, I have the highest regard for genetics, but now it is certain that some aspects of genes can be controlled by our will, life style and habits. Just the fact that the brain can change itself in accordance to what we do and how we think. This means we have to place a lot of importance in the power of free will over our lives.

So, the notion that an obsession gene (that caused your ED ) is controlling your life appears to be false. It is how you perceive and respond to the messages from the environment that controls your life.

If, in your environment you perceive yourself as fat, ugly, anxious or inappropriate and your response to this kind of perception is to starve or binge, purge, take laxatives or over exercising to feel better, then you are letting the environment control you.

 What you should be doing is working through them trying to overcome the false urge? This will make much more of a difference to your outcome than blaming a genetic predisposition for your eating disorder.

Go to http://www.eating-disorders-books.com for more information.

Dr Irina Webster MD.

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7 Tips to Restore Hunger – Fullness Feelings in Eating Disorder Sufferers Using Intuitive Eating.

January 15, 2011 — admin

Intuitive eating is a nutrition philosophy which teaches people to become more attune to the body’s natural hunger and fullness signals in order to attain a healthy weight and to become a generally healthier person.

It is a process that is intended to create a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body. Intuitive eating can also be called wise eating, conscious eating, non-diet approach and normal eating.

People with bulimia and binge eating lose the ability to recognize the body’s natural signals of hunger and fullness so their eating becomes erratic. The feelings of hunger disappear during the day so they don’t eat but when they decide to binge the feelings return but only in reaction to the binge.

 When they go on a binge they can’t stop until they are so full they feel be sick, this is because they have no sensations of fullness. It becomes none or all for them there is no in between.

To restore feelings hunger and fullness you can start eating with awareness. Eating with awareness means when you eat, you should only eat, this means focusing on the food and nothing else, making sure there are no other distractions.

Here are seven useful tips to start eating with awareness:

1. Sit down at the table when you eat. Sitting down will help you focus and allow you to relax more, when you sit down try and find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed.

2. Avoid distractions while you are eating. By distraction I mean TV, reading books, doing work, looking at the computer screen while you eat. You should focus on your body’s signals and sensations while you eat. Focus on chewing the food, the taste of the food , the swallowing process etc.

3. Always use a plate and cutlery. By using a plate and cutlery you are making an official statement “I am having food now”, instead of just shoveling some snacks into your mouth from the cupboard. Using a fork and knife makes the process more cultural and makes you eat bit by bit without shoveling the food in.

4. Using a plate also helps:
- to make yourself aware that you are about to eat
- to make eating formal
- to make it easier for you to see where and what you are eating.

5. Mid-meal check in. This means that half-way through the meal you should pause and became aware of what you are doing. Ask yourself questions:
- How does the food taste, does it still taste as good as it did at the beginning?
- Are you still hungry, half full or completely full? What are the body’s signals sayings?
- Put your right hand on the middle of your stomach and ask:” Is my stomach filling up?”

6. Make every meal special. Lighting candles and putting on some soothing background music will help you to feel more relax and intuitive. It’s amazing how delicious the meal can taste when you take the time to indulge your senses.

7. Meditate before and after a meal. It does not take long – it can be 5-6 minutes before the meal and 5-6 minutes after the meal, this can make all the difference to stopping the binge. Focus not just on stopping the binge but creating a nice special atmosphere where you feel good and your senses are satisfied.

To conclude, becoming more intuitive to your body’s signals and sensations of hunger and fullness can help you to stop binging on food and make your eating more enjoyable. Intuitive eating could be one of the ways to foster a recovery from an eating disorder.

Dr Irina Webster MD.

For more information http://www.eatingdisorder-institute.com???????????? ?? ????????????

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Shame is one of the roots of anorexia and bulimia.

January 11, 2011 — admin

Shame plays an important role in developing eating disorders because shame is a controlling device. Basically all people with anorexia or bulimia can recall being shamed or ashamed several times before their disorder began.

Shame is complex. It extends from small things like parents or teachers saying to someone that she/he is a bit overweight and needs to lose weight, or to something more serious like physical or sexual assault. For a young vulnerable person even a wrong look or an inappropriate comment can be shameful and it can trigger control mechanisms in the brain.

The simplest and most available thing that the shamed person has to exert control over is food. Restrictive eating or binging on food and then purge it all up is an action that only the person who is doing it can control. Plus it gives to the sufferer the intimate sense of achievement and conquering their own body. But there is a catch 22, externally the sufferer keeps it a secret because if it was revealed it will be a shameful action if someone was to discover their secret.

So, feelings of shame start working on the sufferer even before the beginning of their illness. Shame makes the person shrink her/his inner self and avoid others in order to stop interpersonal humiliation. Shame produces resentment, irritability, tendency to blame everyone, suspiciousness and bouts of agitations. Shame also blocks the person’s emotions and makes the person unable to be compassionate to others.

Often family and parents themselves promote shame unknowingly. On different stages of development many children feel inadequate in many tasks. Some parents by criticizing, comparing their children with other kids and controlling them can evoke a lot of shame in their sons and daughters.

Other parental behaviors and styles that provoke shame and body images issues are:
- avoiding children and avoiding to feel and respond to their emotions
- being judgmental
- being constantly angry and disapproving
- expecting children to please
- defensive parental attitude
- being depressed and anxious
- acting as a victim in front of children
- being indirect

Turning to food becomes a substitute for non realized emotions in many children. Their mind is searching for a coping mechanism to ease their emotions and food is an easy outlet to find.

For this reason a big part of eating disorder treatment is working on understanding the impact of shame and how to counteract it. The best antidote for shame is compassion, love and understanding. This has to be understood by the sufferer, family and all the people who interact with the sufferer.

The second step is to change the person’s self-talk from negative feelings towards food, to positive feelings about food. These both are important steps in the sufferer’s recovery and have to be done with the help of the whole family and not just with the sufferer.

This may not be an easy thing to do if the family does not understand exactly what to do to help. But luckily there is help available; find out more go to
http://www.mom-please-help.com

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Short term effects of bulimia.

January 1, 2011 — admin

People often ask me about different side effects of bulimia: about short term, long term and the most dangerous ones.  This article is about short term effects which appear soon after bulimia begins.
 
People are also interested if the short term effects are 100% reversible or not. Well, probably most of the short term bulimia effects are reversible but it is also depends on the intensity of the bulimia.

It is also depends on association with other medical and psychological problems the person as at the time they start being bulimic. So, I would say it is all down to the individual and for many people the short term effects are 100%reversable when they stop their bulimia. But there are some people who can have irreversible damage.

Now, let’s look at them – short term effects.
 
1. Digestive system suffers because of vomiting. People experience bloating, indigestion, bad taste in the mouth, breath smells, pains and aches in the stomach, reflux, heart burn and nausea.

2. Swallowing can be painful if throat gets damaged while vomiting.

3. Teeth get eroded quickly from the acid during and after vomiting.

4. Heart problems can become obvious especially in people who purge often.
 
5. Constipation is a common concern in bulimics. It can become complicated with haemorrhoids and tears.
 
6. Low body temperature which makes people sensitive to cold weather. Bulimics are cold most of the time.

7. Tendency to faint.
 
8. Mood swings and intolerance to mental pressure.

9. Getting tired quickly and the inability to concentrate. Even simple mental tasks like reading can make some bulimics tired and even exhausted. Studying and learning can become problematic also.

10. Muscular tension can bring a lot of suffering. It appears as back pains, neck pains, tension headaches and aches or pains in other parts of the body.

11. Depression and anxiety can be very severe. The more people think and act bulimic the more depressed they become.

12. Dry skin is the problem too, accompanied by brittle hair and weak nails. Skin problems can be noticeable on sufferer’s hands especially. Knuckles can be damaged when they induce vomiting. One quick way to see if a loved one is bulimic check their knuckles, they will be all hard and wrinkled.

13. The Immune system can suffer making a person vulnerable to many infections. They experience colds and flu often.

14. People become withdrawn and avoid others.
 
15. Stress levels increases significantly.
 
16. Insomnia is common due to increased stress.

17. Distorted thoughts: constantly thinking about food, even dreaming about it.

18. Menstrual problems can range from painful periods to absence of periods.

19. Bone density decreases. Osteoporosis in severe cases of bulimia.

20. Voice changes due to damaged vocal cords.

These are the most common short term bulimia side effects. There are many more and people get affected by bulimia differently. All side effects can turn into dangerous complications. So the best way to prevent them is to stop your bulimia all together.

 You can always start looking for help: read more about it, educate yourself, ask professionals, work on changing your psychology, change behavioural pattern etc. Never give up and never take the side of disease.

To read more about dangerous side effects of bulimia go to http://www.eating-disorders-books.com

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The most dangerous side effects of bulimia.

December 26, 2010 — admin

Bulimia causes damaging side effects to the body. It can also destroy the brain, heart and the soul of the person suffering from this eating disorder.

There is no one system in the body that does not get affected by long term bulimia.
 
What are the most dangerous side effects? – You may ask.  These are the effects people can die from.  Lets  look at them separately.

1. Heart complications. Many eating disorder sufferers have irregular heartbeat, slow pulse or palpitations. All these abnormalities are extremely dangerous especially if the person continues with binging-purging.  People can suddenly collapse and even die if the heart suddenly stops working going into condition called “heart block”.

2. Electrolyte abnormalities. Electrolytes are the chemicals in the body that help our organs work. When people vomit they lose enormous amount electrolytes this is very bad for the body. The organs that suffer the most are: heart, kidney and brain. An abnormal amount of electrolytes can cause heart block, kidney failure and fainting.  Any of these complications can end up with the sufferer dying.

3. Kidney failure. The kidneys are the organs that balance water and electrolytes in the body.  Vomiting causes both dehydration and electrolyte imbalance problems. The kidneys try to compensate for this but if the vomiting continues the kidneys stop working and go into kidney failure.
 
4. Mental problems. Mental problems in bulimics are especially dangerous because of the high rate of suicide amongst eating disorder sufferers. When people get highly addicted to binging-purging behaviour, they often become unable to cope with everyday life and use suicide as a way to escape from the black circle they find themselves in.
 
5. Drug and alcohol problems are often the next step in for the bulimic.  Bulimics get addicted easier than people who don’t have bulimia. This is the nature of the disorder. Of course, where drugs and alcohol are involved the incidence of accidental death increases enormously.  People die from an accidental overdose of drugs and organs failure.

6. Gullet rapture. Gullet or oesophagus is the tube that connects the mouth and the stomach.   When people vomit they force the food to come up from the stomach, through the gullet and up into the mouth.  If the vomiting becomes severe, gullet rapture can occur.  The sufferer can die from internal bleeding and shock.
 
To sum up, these are the most dangerous side effects of bulimia. There are many more which may not cause the death of the patient but damage the body and make it malfunction. You can prevent all these complications just by looking for help and doing something constructive about your bulimia.

Even learning more about the condition and what you can do to help yourself will push you forward towards recovery. Never stop resisting the disease and never give up fighting for your health and your life.

To read more about dangerous side effects of bulimia go to http://www.Mom-Please-Help.com

Posted in Anorexia, Eating Disorder, bulimia. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »

How does bulimia cause weight loss?

December 14, 2010 — admin

Bulimia and weight loss are two things that interest many people. Nowadays nearly everyone wants to know a fast and easy method to lose extra weight. Bulimia is considered by some people as one of this easy ways to become slim.

But how does it work, if it works at all?
 
When people become bulimic they start to throw up food after eating. Often they binge before vomiting. Most bulimics have a certain time when they binge: dinner time, sometime in the afternoon or at night.

These people believe that by vomiting they get rid of the food they ate. Because of that they think they satisfy their hunger and reduce the amount of calories at the same time.  In fact, it is not exactly true.

First, when bulimics binge, some foods still get absorbed by digestive tract before they throw up. This is especially true for fatty and sugary foods, which are the bulimics favourite foods.  The longer the binge, the more calories get absorbed.
 
Second, after vomiting bulimics have the “empty stomach effect”.  Their appetite increases drastically and this can evoke another binge. Some people can have several binging-purging episodes during the day because of their inability to control the hunger pains after vomiting.

 And again, as a result of this they consume overall much more calories than if they had just had a normal meal.

Vomiting also changes their electrolytes and nutrient balance in the body.  Their Insulin producing system suffers enormously also.  The Insulin system is the system that breaks down sugar in the body.

That’s why during the day bulimics often munch sweets, breads, biscuits, chocolate, cakes and the like. This can push their calorie consumption up through the roof, making them put on weight the exact opposite of what they are trying to achieve.

Of course you may say that some bulimics are slim. But most of these people are slim because they fast during the day and eat only when they are binging-purging.

To say in other words those who alternate between bulimia and anorexia and never eat normally.

So, bulimia on its own will not cause any decrease in weight at all. But complicating bulimia by adding anorexic behaviours will cause severe illness and even death.

If you are thinking of using bulimia as a way to lose weight – than think again: because you are cheating on yourself and putting your life in danger also.

If you have already started on bulimic path of behaviour, you should find help to stop it before the addiction becomes overpowering.  There are lots of help available and you should pick the one which suits you.

To read more about meditation for bulimia go to http://www.meditation-sensation.com

Posted in Anorexia, Eating Disorder, bulimia. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »

Will a University course help for eating Disorders?

December 8, 2010 — admin

It was with great interest I read the press release “University course to study bulimia and anorexia” 11-11-10 on the Wales online website.

The Cardiff University is putting together a Collaborative Working in Eating Disorders module to be studied as part of the School’s MSc in Advanced Practice by the university’s school of nursing.

 Although this seems a noble cause I do get a little concerned when academia and governments gets involved with the treatment or suggested treatment of a disorder. Academics are renowned for not being able to think outside the square and get bogged down with dogma, so will concentrate on the so called conventional approach to eating disorders.
 
Governments are even worse tending to back the established approach even if it does not work, they can’t afford any political backlash if they make a mistake. Plus it is always good to be seen as doing something in the eyes of the voters. So to save themselves down the track they also back the conventional approach.

From reading the article it seems apparent that the course will have its basis on the conventional approach to the treatment of eating disorders and this is worrying and will only produce much of the same thinking that is prevalent now.
 
As an eating disorder specialist, author of two books on the subject and an ex-sufferer of anorexia and bulimia myself: I know the conventional approach is not that great. I myself did the rounds of therapists etc, to no avail for years and I was training to be a doctor, so you would think it should have worked.
 
 I am not the only person who has gone through multiple treatments only to find they did not work; I get emails everyday from people telling me the same thing.
Here are a few abbreviated emails.

 I am helping a young adult girl whom I have become extremely fond of!… At the age of 14 she became anorexic and eventually bulimic. She has been in clinics a number of times, but every time she just goes home things just continue where she left off…
Charleen SA.

My daughter is 22 years old and she was suffering ED for 2 years… For your information she has been treated in the ED clinic as outpatient, visiting the internist doctor and the psychologist regularly to no avail…
Li Australia.

My daughter has been in and out the eating disorder clinic in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the last 4 years. I’m tired of them, she continues to struggle…
D M USA.

I took her to our health care Clinic and they seemed to have a handle on the disorder and they seemed to be helping with all kinds of counseling, nutritionist, psychiatrist and nursing… but once home she “back-slid” back into binging and purging.
VF, GB.

These emails are very typical from people contacting me still searching for answers when the conventional treatments have failed.

There is a very good reason why this happens and why sufferers fail to get better after showing promise while in the clinic? Conventional treatment methods do not confront the disorder where it lives in the subconscious mind of the sufferer.

They do not understand that an eating disorder is a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

But unlike the person who has to wash their hands 100 times a day, or the sufferer who has to check to see if the gas is turned off 200 times before they can leave their home. These people get nothing but pain from their OCD, whereas the ED sufferer actually gets pleasure from their disordered eating habits.
 
This extra element of pleasure adds a different dimension to the disorder and is most difficult to treat with conventional approaches used in clinics and by therapists. Sitting and talking to a therapist rehashing old hurts for hours is not going to help.

This is a logical approach to a disorder that is not the least bit logical. After all why would someone purposely starve themselves to death and know they are doing it?

In my view there is really only one method that can beat an eating disorder and that is one that attacks the ED where it lives in the subconscious mind of the sufferer. To do this you have to use the power of Neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability to change the way our brain functions by how we think, feel and act.
 
With the use of specialized methods to promote positive feelings, emotions, action and pictures we can change the faulty neuronal pathways and negative programming that has occurred in mind of the sufferer. The beauty of using a specialized neuroplasticity approach to curing eating disorders is it can be used at home.

This is the place all ED sufferers fail and relapse back into their old habits, because the triggers that control their habits are all at home, they are not in the clinic or therapists rooms.
  
I believe that any university course however noble it may seem if it does not incorporate the use of neuroplasticity and a method to change the neuronal pathways in the brain will not help. This will only produce a whole new batch of conventional method thinkers to the detriment of the eating disorder sufferer.

To read more about neuroplasticity is the key to eating disorder help go to http://eating-disorders-books.com

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Attachment theory and development of eating disorders.

November 2, 2010 — admin

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Attachment theory explains the bond or tie between a child and an attachment figure, a parent or guardian. Nowadays it is starting to become obvious that children with insecure attachment styles are prone to eating disorders more so than children with secure attachments.

When children interact with parents in the first 5-7 years of life some children feel that their parents are a reliable source of comfort and security. These children most likely will develop secure attachment style and become well-adjusted adults.

 Other children may feel that their parents (or caregivers) are not that reliable and don’t give them the sense of security, support and comfort when it’s needed. Some parents may even reject their children in terms of providing emotional comfort. These children probably will develop an insecure attachment style and will compensate for their emotional discomfort with food, alcohol and/or drugs when they grow up.

Now we know that a lot of eating disorder sufferers turn to their disorder to find security, comfort and emotional stability. Food is something that is always readily available and will bring temporary emotional comfort to a sufferer: so it seems an easy way out of their emotional problems.

There is no blame on the parents of course because eating disorders are complex and many factors have to come together for a person to develop the disorder. But what we do know now is that a cold parental attitude, very high expectations placed on a child, parental abuse or rejection are all factors that can force a child to turn to an eating disorder.

 As a rule, most eating disorders sufferers (nearly all) have insecure attachment styles: anxious and avoidant styles. Because attachment style is developed in the first years of life, it is understandable that a predisposition to an eating disorder is built earlier in life (probably in the first 5-7 years of life) that previously realised.

 A Childs attitude toward their parents (caregivers) is also directly connected to their attitude of themself, their body and self-esteem, their thoughts about the world and the people around them. It is also connected to their perception of safety (about the world being a safe place or not). All these factors as we now know influence the development of eating disorders in young children and teenagers.

 To conclude, attachment style is something we should look at when talking about the prevention of eating disorders. We need to educate parents regarding how they can make their children feel more secure and comfortable inside their own self. Developing a secure attachment style in children will help prevent eating disorders in many young people.

 Read more at http://www.eating-disorders-books.com

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