Eating Disorders

An eating disorder is a mental dis-ease defined by abnormal eating habits that affect a person’s physical or mental health. Eating disorders are a group of conditions marked by an unhealthy relationship with food. These unhealthy eating behaviors negatively impact health, emotions and the ability to function in important areas of life such as at work, in relationships, or merely getting through the day in a productive way. Many individuals feel embarrassed to seek treatment, and have great resistance giving up these ways of coping. If you or a loved one suffers from an eating disorder, it is important to proactively seek help.
Many therapeutic approaches treat the symptoms of the dis-ease rather than the CAUSE. This oftentimes takes people down a pathway of endless symptom management techniques, including medicating the symptoms. Knowing the CAUSE behind eating disorders and dismantling it at the CAUSAL level is essential to ensure that the symptoms resolve.

The three types of eating disorders include:

Anorexia Nervosa – a possible life threatening eating disorder defined by extremely low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of body image. This eating disorder can be found in women and men of all ages. In an image-obsessed society, there is much pressure to be thin, and this pressure can further exacerbate this disorder. People who are high profile individuals who act, model or dance (ballerinas) are particularly prone to be obsessed with body image, and the pressure on these individuals to be thin is enormous. This pressure can result in a continued spiralaling down of weight loss, sometimes leading to death.

Bulimia Nervosa – another possible life threatening eating disorder is characterized by binging and purging. During the binging phase, the person can eat a remarkably large amount of food in a short amount of time. During the purging phase, the person tries to get rid of the consequences by either vomiting, using laxatives, or a combination of both. This disorder can cause a myriad of complications including dental erosion, a loss of minerals essential to the body resulting in electrolytic unbalance which can lead to irregular heart beat, increasing the risk of heart failure and death.

Binge Eating Disorder – This disorder is characterized by a loss off control over eating. Binge eaters experience regular episodes of extreme overeating. The weight gain can eat away at a person’s self esteem and physical health and result in low self esteem and massive self criticism leading to anxiety and depression.

From a MIND MAP perspective: Eating disorders are dangerous defense mechanisms that act to protect and shield us from uncomfortable emotions. These defense mechanisms do not however defend. They break down and break us down emotionally and physically. The CAUSE behind this dis-ease must be dealt with in order to dismantle the symptoms. The CAUSE or blueprint is connected to childhood injuries, and the core beliefs they leave us with… once these core beliefs are identified and dismantled, the symptoms are no longer needed as defense mechanisms. The pathway to healing is to dismantle negative core beliefs that lead to distorted thinking and distorted and destructive eating patterns. By understanding the reasons behind these defense mechanisms and reprocessing the repressed feelings behind them, authentic self expression can be accessed which can lead to self empathy and healing.

Other Therapies:

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Work Stress is…
Performance Anxiety is…
Trauma / PTSD is…
Motivational Issues is…
Learning disability refers to a person’s inability or difficulty to learn in a manner that is typical for their age or developmental stage.