When Food is the Enemy - Part 1
As the holidays approach, most of us eagerly anticipate sharing tantalizing holiday foods with those near and dear to us. For the person with anorexia or bulimia, however, the holidays are synonymous with anxiety, requiring an inordinate amount of planning and ingenuity to avoid or purge the food that is so central to celebration of the holidays and which the rest of us find so irresistible.
A person with anorexia (who severely limits intake of food) becomes a master of deception: moving food around to give the appearance of eating, hiding it (in napkins, the hand used to cover a cough, etc.) and contriving excuses for not eating.It's not unusual for a person with anorexia to obsess about food; this can serve as a substitution for actually eating. Excessive exercise can also be a red flag. Steady and drastic weight loss is the hallmark of anorexia, resulting from the misperception and conviction-- that one is grossly overweight, even when actually underweight. This is how anorexics truly see and believe themselves to be and vehemently reject evidence to the contrary.
People with bulimia may frequently excuse themselves shortly after eating or spend lengthy periods of time alone or in the restroom to purge (most likely by induced vomiting). Weight loss may not be as apparent in a person with bulimia, as the goal often is to maintain a certain weight. However, foul breath, decaying teeth and chronic hoarseness can be clues. If bulimia persists, it can lead to painful and dangerous ruptures in the esophagus. Both disorders are maintained by passionate denial and masterful secrecy.
In the next issue we will address some of the possible causes and courses of treatment for eating disorders.
(Belinda Crosier, Masters of Education and a Licensed Professional Counselor at Edmond Family Counseling. She can be reached at 351-3554.)
