Anorexia & their mind/body connection?

[Jason72]

Anorexia - & their thought cause's?

I have just finished reading a couple of books and would like to share with you what I come across.

Anorexia - Trying to control your life by denying yourself nourishment. Extreme anger, hatred and rejection of self. Belief in self-punishment. An unhappy childhood, painful family life. Denial of joy and fun. Feeling like you don't belong. Inability to communicate and deal with your fears. Wasting away. Inna Segal

Anorexia - Not understanding that you are living other peoples standards. You are not using your power to be free and not be restricted by other peoples ideas. Not getting your food needs leads to trouble on your uterus. You need the spiritual understanding of knowing yourself and start maturing to love yourself. You do not know how to love yourself and be yourself, thus your soul wants to leave. (self-destruction) Annette Noontil

Anorexia - is denying the self life, an extreme form of self-hatred. What is going on in your life that is so awful that you want to get out completely? Self-hatred is only hating a thought you have about yourself. Thoughts can be changed. What is so terrible about you? Were you reared in a critical family? Did you have critical teachers? Did your early religious training tell you that you were "not good enough" as you are? So often we try to find reasons that "make sense to us" for why we are not loved and accepted just as we are. Because of the fashion industry's obsession with slenderness, many women who have as their main messages, "I am not good enough; what's the use," will use their bodies as a focal point for self-hatred. Nothing works from the outside of the body. Self-approval and self-acceptance are the keys. Louise Hay.

New thought pattern or affirmation (by Louise Hay) to be repeated over & over for around 3 months.

"It is safe to be me. I am wonderful just as I am. I choose to live. I choose joy and self-acceptance."

Sounds to me like self-hate is the culprit here? Any thoughts?

[RobLL]

It may also have to do with faulty self perception. Some studies have shown that there are actual brain differences which occur and persist. A complicated question. One competive swimmer jokingly (?) said to me that extra heavy training was guy's version of anorexia. I thought it an interesting observation.

[Luna Sea]

The psychology of anorexia and other eating disorders is very complex. Most anorexics are often perfectionists and are very strict with themselves. They set high and unrealistic goals for themselves. They also suffer from extreme body dysmorphic disorder, meaning that they look in the mirror and see themselves as fat and ugly. Often what leads to this kind of behaviour is a lack of control in some other part of their life.

Dieting gives them a feeling of power and control of their lives. This slowly turns into an obsession as they self monitor their food intake and their weight, as they gain satisfaction from finally being in control of something. The power of control helps to block out unwanted feelings and emotions.

It's really a type of mental illness. I've suffered from eating disorders my entire life. I was anorexic as a teenager. I resorted to bingeing and purging in my 20's. I was OK for a while during my pregnancies, and when my children were young. But I've had many recent backslides in my late 40's to now. I'm 55 years old, and I still struggle. I've been through several types of therapy my entire life. Everything works for a while, until a problem arises and I feel out of control. I want to resort to periods of bingeing and starving because it is my place of comfort, in a warped sort of way.

You never really get over it, you just learn to live with it, and live healthy. Like a junkie or an alcoholic, except you need food to survive.

[Katydid77]

Anorexia is very peer related. Statistically, I believe that Caucasian and Asian communities have the highest percentages, while it is almost non-existent in the black communities.

I had Anorexia in the early 2000's (is that how you say that?) and was assigned a lot of research reading as part of my treatment, and I remember that sticking out in my studies.

Obviously, since there are similar personality/character types in all cultures, it is obviously the pressure that particular social environments and cultural expectations put on those people, that evolves itself into those problems.

I do agree with the sentiment that anorexia can be compared to over training. Like a lot of those types of issues, they are typically 'addictive personality' types that allow themselves to become sold to one idea, to the detriment of all other aspects of their life.

[Juleske]

For me it was always about control. When you're a teenager everything is changing, your body is changing, your feelings and impulses are changing. Anorexia made me feel less powerless "at least I'm in control of *something* in my life". That, coupled with a few self-esteem and social issues, of course.

[galya]

I think every anorexic has a story. The issue of self acceptance and self love, as well as the aspect of self respect connected to being deserving of others' love and admiration is something rooted very very deeply in almost every person with an eating disorder, but every story is different. You need a lot of background to know how to work with anorexia and opening cans of emotional issues is no fun
I don't like it when anorexia is put broadly under the category of "control issues'', since control is only the surface sign that we notice, and underlying there are so many other emotional disruptions. Anorexia is often coupled with body image disorders, and compulsions that do not make it easier to deal with. What often strikes me is that some anorexics will show similar behaviors with the tools they use to get better, they struggle to relax about anything, every new piece of knowledge is another thing they can now obsess over. I think it takes a lot of love from their immediate environment, a lot of compassion and understanding and true nurturing of new habits. There are tools like NLP and even plain old CBT that help a great deal.
There is a great book, called Lying in Weight, that deals with issues of women that have been through eating disorders in their young years, who have to face them again as older adults. It's scary to think it never really goes away, but knowing it can come back can make you more aware.

@the original poster, what made you post this question? I am sorry if you made it clear somewhere else, I don't read everything on the forums these days.