Eating issues can show up in lots of different ways. Often eating disorders surface as a way to avoid feelings or experiences. They surface as a means to make life’s challenging emotions less challenging. In these cases people use food to numb emotions, or avoid conflict. Eating disorders are also born out of a desire for acceptance or to be validated. Eating disorders can convince someone that only through weight loss or successful food management and controlling body size will they be “enough”.
Obsession with food and exercise may affect your ability to focus, your moods, and impact your performance at school, work, or in relationships. Food restriction and weight loss can even lead to cognitive impairment, cardiovascular issues, and multiple organ failure.
Let’s work together and discover a kinder, more empowered approach to food, your body, and yourself.
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EATING DISORDERS
THE EXPERIENCE
When you’re living with an eating disorder, there’s not much room for anything else. The obsession with how, when, and what you eat, or don’t eat, takes precedence over everything—your health, your relationships, your hopes, and your dreams. Eating disorders are an all-consuming attack on your body and mind.
Behind every person’s eating struggles is a story not yet told, and emotions not yet discovered or heard. In therapy, you can begin to open up about all of the behaviors, concerns, and feelings that you’d been working hard to hide from others and maybe even from yourself. Opening up takes a lot of courage, but the rewards can be immense as well. You will begin to look at your struggles in a whole new light, and you will acquire new coping strategies to manage your life.
Treatment plays a crucial role for individuals with eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image issues. The earlier treatment begins, the more favorable the outcomes tend to be. Various types of eating disorders can lead to serious side effects, but even when symptoms are not immediately life-threatening, a person's mental, emotional, and physical well-being can be positively impacted over time. Addressing unhealthy food-related behaviors can help restore a sense of control, making daily life more manageable. It's encouraging to note that awareness is growing, although many still hesitate to seek treatment due to the stigma surrounding these conditions.
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It is encouraging to recognize that anyone can find themselves struggling, and that people with eating disorders come from diverse backgrounds. There are specific precursors that may increase susceptibility, such as a history of trauma, family history of eating disorders, addiction, or mental illness.
Many individuals with eating disorders also experience co-occurring mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and personality disorders.
It is worth noting that while women are the most common demographic affected by these conditions, many men, trans, and non-binary individuals also face similar challenges.
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Understanding the distinction between a diagnosable eating disorder and disordered eating can be quite enlightening. Behaviors such as bingeing and purging, fear of gaining weight, or compulsively consuming large amounts of food can occur in both scenarios. The overlapping symptoms can often appear quite similar, which is why collaborating with a mental health professional can provide valuable clarity.
Recovery begins when individuals learn to manage their symptoms effectively. One way to differentiate eating disorders from disordered eating patterns is by assessing the degree and severity of the symptoms. Those exhibiting disordered eating may display certain behaviors without fulfilling the criteria for a formal diagnosis.
If left unaddressed, disordered eating can evolve into a diagnosable eating disorder, such as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa. Seeking help is particularly important if there are co-occurring symptoms of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or trauma, as these mental health challenges can intensify disordered eating symptoms.
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Recognizing the signs of an eating disorder is crucial for early intervention. If you or someone you love is experiencing these symptoms, seeking professional help at an eating disorder rehab in Los Angeles can be life-changing.
Physical Symptoms
Rapid weight fluctuations
Gastrointestinal complaints, such as bloating or constipation
Fatigue, dizziness, or fainting spells
Irregular menstrual cycles or loss of menstruation
Dry skin, brittle nails, and thinning hair
Behavioral Symptoms
Obsessive calorie counting or food restriction
Compulsive exercise despite exhaustion or injury
Secretive eating habits or skipping meals
Frequent trips to the bathroom after eating
Use of laxatives, diuretics, or other methods to purge calories
Emotional Symptoms
Intense fear of weight gain or being “fat”
Distorted body image or dissatisfaction with appearance
Feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety around eating
Withdrawal from social activities involving food
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In many cases, anxiety is a familiar feeling for those struggling with eating disorders. For many individuals, the onset of an eating disorder begins with a desire to control their situations and environment. When they feel out of control, they may turn to maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as trying to gain control through food, exercise, and weight loss. Managing these aspects can provide a temporary sense of relief from anxiety, although that relief is often short-lived.
For some, treatment for an eating disorder also includes addressing anxiety. Each person’s treatment plan is tailored to their specific therapeutic goals and needs, which is a positive step towards recovery.
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Body image concerns can profoundly affect an individual's self-worth, confidence, and interpersonal connections. For many, fostering a positive body image can seem like a daunting challenge. Nevertheless, mental health support provides essential resources to achieve emotional liberation from harmful perceptions of body image and self-esteem.
Concepts such as body acceptance, body neutrality, and body positivity serve as guiding principles on the path to self-love and profound self-acceptance. Each approach offers practical strategies to confront body dissatisfaction and nurture a more constructive relationship with one’s body, emphasizing a message of acceptance and personal empowerment.
Through therapeutic processes, individuals can examine diverse viewpoints regarding their bodies, recognizing that these perspectives can vary widely. The aim is to uncover a reframing that promotes healing and encourages a compassionate relationship with oneself.
Regardless of whether you are dealing with an eating disorder or disordered eating patterns, you are entitled to validation, empathy, and understanding. It is important to remember that help is always available.
MY APPROACH
Regardless of how disordered eating shows up in your life, my work is to help you understand the cause of your eating disorder. We work to process what is underneath the eating disorder, and build skills to manage life’s challenges without the use of food. Once we do this I often see people become less and less focused on food. They begin to enjoy eating food more freely without the desire to restrict. Or they stop using food as a way to avoid their feelings.
The parallel focus is on understanding the connection between food and feelings and developing value based coping mechanisms with emotions which are often the triggers to disordered eating practices and working toward fostering a new way of relating to oneself and one’s body based on self-acceptance and self-compassion. This opens the door to an unfolding process of self-discovery, leading to greater awareness and acceptance of emotions, improved assertiveness in relationships and effectiveness in coping with stressful life situations.
I utilize The Health At Every Size approach in working with adults and adolescents with emotional eating and binge-eating issues. This is a non-diet approach that focuses on stopping the vicious diet-binge cycle and the yo-yo weight loss and regain phenomenon that we have all been so familiar with as part of our current diet culture.
In part, because eating disorders are complex conditions, involving biological, psychological and societal elements. As the combined effect of these elements naturally varies from one individual to another, I offer personalized treatment to cater to an individual’s unique situation, and give them the best chance of recovery.
