| |
What is Disordered Eating?
"Dieting, bingeing, purging and other strange behaviours are not random craziness. They are heroic, misguided and ineffective attempts to take charge in a world that seems overwhelming."
(Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders Inc. 2005)
This quote reminds us that eating disorders are NOT about vanity or appearance but are related to psychological and emotional issues.
Disordered eating can take many forms, from restricting behaviours (e.g. strict dieting) to emotional eating, to full blown eating disorders (e.g. Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder).
Amelia believes in a NO DIET approach to resolving disordered eating both in individuals and for society as a whole. In keeping with her belief in the biopsychosocial model of healing Amelia believes there are numerous factors contributing to the development and maintenance of an eating disorder that must all be addressed, e.g. biological and psychological components as well as relationships, media, etc.
Signs and symptoms of disordered eating can consist of a combination of restricting behaviours and/or over eating types of behaviour as well as related thoughts and feelings. Many people can experience just one or two of these symptoms and not have an eating disorder, for example, body dissatisfaction is common for many women. However, if you are experiencing several of these signs and symptoms you may want to speak to a professional for further assessment.
- Preoccupation with food, weight and appearance (e.g. ongoing thoughts of food, weight and body throughout the day)
- Dissatisfaction with appearance
- Eating when you are not hungry
- Find it difficult to stop eating after a regular portion
- Skipping meals
- Use of laxatives, vomiting, over exercising or diet pills to control your weight
- Use of food for emotional fulfillment, e.g. happiness
- Dieting when already a healthy weight
- Yo-Yo dieting
- Elimination of eating specific foods or food groups, “forbidden” foods
- Unwillingness to try new foods
- No or limited flexibility with food choices
- Feeling guilty about eating
- Feeling guilty if you don’t exercise or miss a day of exercise
- Weight fluctuation
- Unhealthy low or high weight
- Self evaluation based solely or mostly on appearance
- Think if you lose weight you will be happier, life will be better
- Often compare your appearance to the appearance of others
- Fear of gaining weight
- Eating secretly
- Eating for emotional reasons, e.g. when you are bored or angry or sad or stressed; to numb or forget the emotion (this is often subconscious)
- Weighing yourself often
- Feeling out of control when eating or binge eating
- Feeling embarrassed about your eating behaviours
- Lying about what or how much you have eaten
If you would like more information about eating disorders you can visit one of the following websites:
National Eating Disorder Information Centre: www.nedic.ca
Sheena’s Place: www.sheenasplace.org
Eating Disorders of York Region: www.edoyr.com
Danielle's Place: www.daniellesplace.org
Why Disordered Eating?
"Binge eating appears to be a pattern of motivated escape from meaningful self-awareness..."
(Heatherton, T. & Baumeister, T. Binge Eating As Escape From Self-Awareness, Psychological Bulletin 1991, Vol 110, No.1)
There are many reasons why people maintain disordered eating or an eating disorder. For example, for many it is a way of coping with or avoiding difficult to manage emotions, such as anger or fear. Eating or restricting food allows the person to focus on the food issues and preoccupation, rather than their real issues. For some it may serve other purposes, for example, it may provide a sense of control, a feeling of uniqueness, one may be praised for the behaviour or results (e.g. losing weight), etc.
For some, it provides relief from other emotions such as boredom or depression and may bring temporary pleasure. Unfortunately, the pleasure is just that, temporary, and it is often followed by feelings of guilt and self loathing or self hatred, for example after a binge. Using food as a coping mechanism is not effective long term and often finding different, more healthful ways of coping is needed for individuals that have disordered eating habits.
Healing Disordered Eating
“95% of all dieters regain their weight within 1-5 years.”
(www.nedic.ca, statistics page)
Complete weight regain was found in the majority of dieters after analyzing 31 long term studies. (Many diet studies and advertisements only look at results 6 months after the diet rather than long term). “Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.”
“Most people would have been better off not going on the diet at all." Their weight would be pretty much the same, and their bodies would not suffer the wear and tear from losing weight and gaining it all back. At least one-third to two-thirds of people on diets regain more weight than they lost within four or five years, and the true number may well be significantly higher.”
(Mann, T. et al. Medicare’s Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer, American Psychologist, April, 2007)
It is not about will power, and it is not about vanity, it is a psychological issue that needs to be addressed at a deep level and cannot be resolved superficially. Therapy can help you to understand how and why you are maintaining your eating disorder and address these issues while developing more satisfactory methods of coping and achieving your goals.
Amelia’s approach to disordered eating not only includes a no diet approach but also incorporates education about nutrition, healthy eating, sensual and mindful eating, exercise, balance between mind, body and soul, self care and processes to encourage eating for physical rather than emotional nourishment.
Often times other issues are experienced along with disordered eating, for example, depression, obsessive thinking, anxiety, difficulty managing stress, etc. These are considered on an individual Client basis and are addressed in conjunction with the disordered eating behaviours, feelings and thoughts to encourage holistic healing.
Put an end to disordered eating with guidance from someone who has experienced it and overcome it.
Amelia Perri provides psychotherapy and counseling services in York Region including Vaughan, Woodbridge, Concord, Thornhill, Richmond Hill and Toronto areas.
Services by Amelia Perri, RN, HonBscN
|
