More about Eating Disorders

We live in an absolutely crazy culture that is externalized to the extreme. We define our success by what we accomplish, what we accumulate, what we look like. Our power has become entwined with our image. We have shifted so far away from an inner understanding of ourselves that we no longer know what we are without our external image. We quite literally make ourselves sick in the process.

"Who are we if not reflected back to us? What are we without our image? Without the reflection of the mirror, the numbers on the scale..."

Culture is one of the factors that often fuels the development of an eating disorder, while genes, peers, family, trauma and other environmental triggers contribute as well.

Regardless of etiology, what I perhaps hear most frequently by clients is that they don't feel they are "sick enough" to seek treatment. They are either not "thin enough" or "symptomatic enough" to really qualify for help. This is of course ludicrous. It is what the eating disorder will tell you but it isn't true. Unfortunately the diagnostic criteria currently used for the diagnosis of eating disorders often validates this faulty thinking. Currently we have the broad categories of Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) under which Binge Eating Disorder (BED) falls. The diagnostic criteria for each of these is in my opinion too restrictive. When the default category (EDNOS) catches the majority of the diagnosis, there is something clearly wrong with our way of diagnosing. For example, I commonly see patients struggling with severe restriction, intense fear of food and/or becoming fat who weigh within an "ideal body weight" range. Their struggle is no less "anorexic" than the client who weighs below "ideal". Though it often makes insurance coverage for treatment more difficult, please do not let your fear of not being "sick enough" stop you from seeking treatment. The suffering that happens as a result of the daily mental battle IS the eating disorder itself and it deserves attention.

Although we know that eating disorders focus a great deal on food and weight, this is only the tip of the iceberg. An eating disorder serves a function. It is a coping mechanism with some terrible side effects. It carries with it important messages about you and your life. It is not a "superficial" disorder. It is not about wanting to look better or be thinner or eat healthier. These are simply some of the masks it wears. An eating disorder is a calling home to your true Self.

Through recovery, much is learned about nourishment, not only in a physical sense but also in an emotional and spiritual sense. Finally, eating disorders can be transformers of darkness to light.