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Body Image, Self-Esteem and Eating Disorders
Body Image,
Self-Esteem and Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are a disease of the mind, body and spirit. Many of the young girls who come to see me for this problem are laden with distortions of body image and self-esteem in which the food and body become the major concern; but the underlying issues go much deeper than this in which many of these individuals suffer from depression, anxiety, fear of losing control, fear of failure, or fear of not being loved.
As a nutritionist, it is my job to help these clients get on a healthy food plan in which they feel safe to eat foods that nourish them as they work through their issues in therapy. I tell them to have a mantra, if you will…. “Food is Medicine.” It is not good, it is not bad…it is just medicine, and is needed to sustain them as they work through the issues they must work through in order to get to the other side of what plagues them. It is also imperative to challenge “the eating-disordered brain” between what they perceive to be real and what is actually real.
The eating-disordered brain works very differently than the normal functioning brain in that it sees and tells the patient things that are not real. For instance, a young woman who came to see me for a consult weighed 101 pounds and is 56″ tall. She insisted that she was fat and disgusting. I had her draw her body as she saw it and then I had her lie down and I traced her body as it actually was.
The discrepancies of what was as opposed to what she actually believed was true were astounding and there for her to see with her own eyes…this could not be disputed. It is exercises like this one that challenge the distortions of the person who is suffering from an eating disorder.
A person who is suffering from an eating disorder needs to be treated by a team of therapists for therapy, psychiatrists for medications, if needed, and nutritionists for a healthy plan of eating. Other modalities of healing which are beneficial are art therapy, yoga or some type of body work to get the person re-connected with their body in a positive way, relaxation techniques, some type of spiritual program, and physical activity once a healthy weight has been re-established.
There is help available for the person who is suffering from an eating disorder. To find resources in this area you can contact The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), The Something Fishy Web site, Eatright.org, Psychology Today Web site or E. D. referral.com
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