Why An Eating Disorder Develops

There are many theories regarding the development of eating disorders, and different theories apply to different eating disorders. So will for example anorexic people have other reasons than people with a binge eating disorder.

Some theories don’t start with the person who has the eating disorder, but they rather look at society as a whole. Anita Johnston, for example, says that problems, particularly for women, started when society changed from a matriarchy to a patriarchy. That the feminine attributes like emotion, intuition and softness were once held high, allowing women to express themselves. But once this changed women had to adapt to the power and success driven world, ruled by logic and rationality. The feminine is often ridiculed and women can no longer express their true nature.
Anita Johnston approaches the subject of eating disorders in a spiritual way, I think. If you think this might help you then check out her book “Eating in the light of the moon”

I do believe that overall necessity and pressure for women to be like men contributes to the development of an eating disorder. Likewise do I believe that pressures coming from society to be glamorous and thin contribute to a mental susceptibility for eating disorders. However, these are only contributing factors, and the actual reasons for ‘choosing’ an eating disorder as a coping mechanism are embedded within the person individually.

I know that the extremely high standards I set for myself and the subsequent continuous feeling of failure drove me into trying to hold on to the reins very tightly all the time, and the only time I let go was with food. Also, meal times at my home were a family affair, and usually a very happy time. I think that I tried to recreate this happy time with my family whenever I ate because I was feeling low self esteem due to failing to achieve my standards. And then I used food to cope with just about any negative feeling.

I will go further into the reasons for developing an eating disorder at a later time. But first there are some basics that I need to cover to get back on track.