The Mindset of Eating Disorders

Looking in from the outside, it can be difficult to understand an eating disorder. Why would anyone would want to throw up, starve themselves, binge until they hurt, or feel tortured by food?

But eating disorders serve a purpose for those who suffer from them. After all, Psychology 101 teaches us that behavior exists because it gets reinforced. Therefore, once we understand what individuals derive from their eating disorders—how bingeing, purging, or restricting meets a need—it makes way more sense. 

Another barrier to understanding eating disorders is stereotyping. Despite the fact that eating disorders can strike people of any gender, race, income, or body type, the cliché is that of a SWAG: a skinny, white, affluent girl. 

This stereotype hurts everyone. Those that fit the SWAG pigeonhole are often dismissed. Their disease is written off as a lifestyle choice for rich girls fixated on their thigh gap.

On the flip side, for those who defy the SWAG stereotype—men, racial minorities, those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and higher-weight individuals—their disease also gets written off and can fly under the radar for years. Screening, referrals to treatment, or simply being taken seriously are all less likely because they don’t match the expected profile of someone with an eating disorder.

While humans of any demographic can suffer from an eating disorder, what ties together those who suffer is mindset. Understanding the mindset of eating disorders can improve empathy, and most importantly, recognition and treatment for everyone. Therefore, this week, here are 4 factors that drive the mindset of eating disorders:

Factor #1: Needing Control

Let’s start with the big one. Eating disorders are a way to exert control when life feels turbulent and chaotic. In a world where the only constant is change, controlling one’s eating can be a way to feel power and agency as you watch your parents get divorced, your own relationship breaks apart, you show up at a new school or job, or your longtime social circle shifts under your feet.

An eating disorder can also be a way to deal with internal change, like the physical roller coaster of puberty, post-pregnancy, or aging. It can also be an attempt to deal with a roiling mass of negative feelings like loneliness, difference, or inadequacy. 

Therefore, as change swirls externally or internally, folks with eating disorders gain certainty and reliability with every mouthful, every calorie, and every bite.

Interestingly, in western cultures, a minority of individuals with anorexia—around 1 in 5—report not caring about body weight or...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips