Disordered eating occurs in individuals whose relationship to food and eating includes emotional, compulsive, and destructive aspects which are related to psychic needs as opposed to physical ones. These conditions are psychological in nature and are characterized by obsessive thinking about food, eating, and body image with ritualized patterns of eating that provide a sense of control and as a way to cope with potentially overwhelming emotions. Disordered eating behavior can include:
restricting food intake (as seen in anorexia nervosa)
binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting (bulimia nervosa)
compulsive overeating (binge eating disorder)
Any combination of the above three
Disordered eating causes psychological, emotional, and relationship damage along with potentially life threatening consequences. Individuals with severe or long-term conditions are four times more likely to die prematurely than their non-disordered eating counterparts. When substance abuse accompanies disordered eating the person is 10 times more likely to experience premature death. While disordered eating has historically been more prevalent among women, more and more men are identifying as having a problematic and emotionally-involved relationship to food and eating.
Since we must eat to survive, addressing disordered eating requires embracing the complex and intricate nature of the problem while offering solutions that incorporate biological, psychological, social, physical, and spiritual changes and interventions. Recovery from disordered eating requires intense effort and diligence on the part of clients and staff alike accompanied by open mindedness and a willingness to face long-standing disabling patterns of thinking, relating, coping, and behaving. At the same time this work is frequently a matter of life and death.