Listener question: Eating Disorders and Body Dysmorphic Disorder

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Today's listener question brings us into detail about eating
disorders.  There is a strong correlation between weight
fluctuation and depression/anxiety.  Eating disorders can
have lifelong effects on the body.

Anorexia nervosa: a refusal to maintain body weight and an
extreme fear of gaining weight, as well as a disturbance in body
image.  Anorexia often starts with a diet and in response to
perfectionism, desire for high achievement, or high pressure
situations such as a wedding, which cause the person to crave a
sense of control.

Bulimia nervosa: a recurring cycle of binging and purging, using
inappropriate compensatory techniques such as laxatives, induced
vomiting, and enemas.  The binge eating is an attempt to
raise seratonin levels, but the pleasure of eating is replaced by
the pleasure of the purging. 

Binge eating disorder:  a compulsion to eat rapidly,
secretly, until uncomfortable and disgusted by oneself. 
Binge eating disorder can happen in response to a VLCD (very low
calorie diet) and doesn't include the compensatory techniques
that characterize bulimia.

Body Dysmorphia: I myself suffer from body dysphoric
disorder.  I simply cannot see my body for what it is. 
Before my wedding, I couldn't see how frail I was becoming. 
When I was pregnant and tripling my weight, I had no concept of
what my body should be like.  

Food addiction: a physical and psychological dependence to
chemicals that soothe an emotional response, conditioned by
psychological trauma and food as a reward.  Humans are
attracted to psychological trauma.  We create it, we put
meaning on it, in ways that other animals simply do not.  We
need to see it for what it is before we make it mean something
it's not.  Any substance that crosses the blood-brain
barrier can become an addiction: food, alcohol, nicotine,
chemicals, or even an emotional response.

Phases of addiction: 
Experimental: curiosity about trying new things, not a
habitRecreational: regular patterns of use are formed and integrate
into social settingsEarly dependency: regular use becomes regular
abuse.  The user's relationships and work suffer, and they may
withdraw and become irritable when questioned about the
dependency.Full dependency: self-destructive phase where the
substance is more important than anything else in the user's life.

Addiction follows a reward system.  The substance provides a
feeling of comfort in reaction to a stressor, which feeds
addictive behavior, which creates shame and depression, which is
another stressor. 

A 2008 study in rats found that sugar activates the opiate
receptors in the same ways that cocaine does.


The most powerful takeaway for you today is this: even if you
don't have one of these horrendous disorders, do your best to
live your life with acceptance and tolerance.  You don't
know anyone else's struggle.  Find something in every day
that you are grateful for that you can do.  Don't base your
day and your worth on how you look.


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