Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders: What ’s the Connection?

What is the connection between sexual abuse and developing an eating disorder? Why does bingeing, purging, starving and chronic dieting become a “solution” for the abuse? Abuse shatters the sacred innocence of a child and often becomes a primary trigger for an eating disorder. The survivor of sexual abuse becomes plagued with confusion, guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, self-punishment, and rage. She (or he) seeks the soothing comfort, protection, and anesthesia that food offers. Food, after all, is the most available, legal, socially sanctioned, cheapest mood altering drug on the market! And emotional eating is a mood altering behavior that can help detour, divert, and distract a person from inner pain. Barbara (all names changed for confidentiality) describes, “My father’s best friend molested me in our garage starting when I was seven. I was filled with such anxiety that I began gorging on everything that wasn’t tied down. I gained 30 pounds by the time I was 11 which my mother attributed to my eating too much pizza at the school cafeteria.” Amber was abused by an older cousin who said it was a game of doctor. “Overeating and laxatives became my way to rid myself of the pain and confusion. I realized I was trying to evacuate my cousin out of my body through those laxatives.” Donald described shamefully, “After my parents divorced, my mother would get drunk and dance around the house in her nightgown. She scared me, but the worst part was I got turned on. To tr...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Abuse Eating Disorders Trauma Anorexia Binge Eating Bulimia Sexual Abuse Source Type: blogs