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Anorexia: Having an eating disorder is hard work
We often wonder how the mind works with someone who has an eating disorder. It may seem that because an anorexic is emaciated, it would be easy for her not to eat. How else could she get so thin and still eat so little? We could never do that; it would be too difficult. An eating disorder is not included as a dissociative disorder in the psychiatric diagnostic manual, but probably could be. According to the dictionary, to dissociate means “to sever the association with oneself” or “to separate.” There is a continuum of dissociative experience. We all experience it until...
Anorexia: Having an eating disorder is hard work
We often wonder how the mind works with someone who has an eating disorder. It may seem that because an anorexic is emaciated, it would be easy for her not to eat. How else could she get so thin and still eat so little? We could never do that; it would be too difficult.
An eating disorder is not included as a dissociative disorder in the psychiatric diagnostic manual, but probably could be. According to the dictionary means to dissociate“sever the association with oneself”or“to separate.”
There is a continuum of dissociative experience. We all experience it to one degree or another. If you are driving and have “space” and don’t remember any part of the journey, how you got to your destination; this is a very mild form of dissociation.
The extreme form of dissociation is when someone experiences what is known as “multiple personality disorder.” This means that they have split off from themselves to the extent that they have multiple personalities or identities.
The person separates to cope with extreme pain. Each identity carries a different aspect of pain and trauma, so no one personality has to feel everything.
An anorexic's ability to separate herself from hunger is part of why she is able to limit her calorie intake. She will say she is not hungry or does not feel “hungry.” That's not really true, she's hungry.
The problem is that she is so adept at ignoring hunger and distancing herself from her body's needs that she may forget what hunger feels like. Reconnecting with your body is difficult and takes time. Even if an anorexic wants to look like she is starving herself, it is not difficult for her to do so. it is very difficult.
Some behaviors you may see in their attempts to fight hunger:
1) Sucking on certificates, Tic Tacs and other mint products
2) Drink lots of diet soda to make her feel fuller
3) Chew gum
4) Avoid places where she is tempted to eat (with friends, parties, restaurants).
This is information you should know as you try to help your child recover. You don't necessarily have to confront these behaviors when you see them. All I know is that this is probably the case. She is hungry. She just won't admit it.
Inspired by Lynn A Moore