Possible causes and contributory factors to onset of eating disorders

Eating disorders can be understood as an unhealthy unconscious attempt to meet emotional needs – often for a sense of control over one’s life and perhaps other people – and/or a striving for a sense of perfection. ‘Perfectionism’ seems to be a common behavioural character trait in many people experiencing anorexia and bulimia. Someone who has a distorted body image, for example, may not have a sense of an ‘ideal body weight’ for themselves because nothing could ever be ‘ideal’ enough.

It has been posited that early childhood abuse and feelings of powerlessness can contribute to the development of some eating disorders ⁽²⁾ and that food may be the one thing people feel they can control. It’s also been suggested that one in ten people who suffer an eating disorder may be on the autistic spectrum. ⁽³⁾

We also know that group and peer behaviour is very ‘infectious’ ⁽⁴⁾ and that emotional and behavioural patterns can be learned and spread from person to person. It’s also widely thought that unrealistic and unattainable body images derived from celebrities and models contribute to eating disorders in both men and women.⁽⁵⁾

Whatever the cause (or more likely causes)of an eating disorder, treatment needs to focus on

• thinking styles
• the ‘force of habit’ effect of unhealthy behaviours
• finding healthy ways to meet emotional needs.

Eating disorders and addiction

Eating disorder behaviour patterns very closely follow addictive behaviour patterns; commonly:

• There is a period of expectation beforehand
• then a narrowing of focus as the pull to carry out the behaviour grows
• then a feeling of ‘escapism’ while the behaviour is in full swing
• and finally a powerful feeling of completion (after, for example, a purge following a binge, or one more meal successfully missed).

As with addiction, the individual with the eating disorder may find they become ‘habituated’, which means the behaviour feels as if it has to become increasingly more extreme to produce the same effect. Starvation and bingeing and purging also produce chemical responses in the body such as pain-numbing natural opiates. It’s essential to explore and take account of possible addictive components in any disordered eating problems.

Eating disorders and the rest of the world

Eating disorders don’t just happen in a vacuum, even though sufferers often feel isolated. Anything we do has ‘ripple effects’ which spread out to affect family relationships, work life and friendships. All this needs to be taken into account when considering how to help.

The sensible psychology approach

We have observed that eating disorders, like all emotional disturbances, have clearly identifiable ‘hypnotic’ characteristics. For example, bingers often report ‘losing track of time’ and ‘forgetting about anything else’ during a binge. Focus on food becomes so singular that people may literally not notice other aspects of life happening around them.

Effective treatment will focus on developing more appropriate thinking styles and using hypnosis as a way of imparting new, healthier, less ‘extreme’ self-imposed ideas and behaviours and – paradoxically – to help loosen the negative ‘hypnotic hold’ of these eating disorder conditions.

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