The dabbler files

Instead of bruising my head on the desk every time I encounter a new unfounded theory on the cause of eating disorders, I've taken to creating The Dabbler File:

Diagnosing and treating eating disorders is not an amateur sport. Why do so many people feel they can just come up with a theory that suits their worldview and not examine the facts? If they are hearing it from the mentally ill patient, ought they not take that at face value? Don't they fear they risk LIVES when treatment is delayed or derailed on specious theories and pet topics?

Comments

  1. The most recent one that irritated me was "The Hills Made Me Bulimic" which is on newstands now...

    a television show did not make you have an eating disorder... especially not just from July 2008 - August 2008... that's two months.. speed eating disorders??

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  2. My favorite ones are the ones with the Asian Americans girls who say that they became anorexic because they wanted to become white because they were ashamed of being Asian. What????????!!!!!!

    http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t67234.html

    http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=310&Itemid=94

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  3. "The most recent one that irritated me was "The Hills Made Me Bulimic" which is on newstands now..."

    That sounds like "disordered eating" but not an actual "eating disorder" per se. That's like someone claiming to have ADHD just because they occasionally have trouble paying attention. It's insulting to people who really suffer from a disorder or illness.

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  4. Ridiculous.

    I wish I could believe that people would all dismiss this as the worthless drivel it is, but I know they don't. Just as anorexics latch onto the latest 'healthy' diet in self, treatment types seem to latch onto sensationalistic ideas.

    I think for some it can be useful as you come into your recovery (and have a nourished mind) to think about the 'reasons' you fell into the ed & what helped keep you sick. That's all extremely individual though, and I don't think it's so much about the 'cause' of the ed as it is the need for people to help address their vulnerabilities to help prevent relapse.

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  5. The one about the new moms has a grain of truth in it. The postpartum period is a very, very difficult time for women at risk for or in recovery from an ED. Having a baby obviously does not cause the ED, but it's one of the times when women with the underlying biological predisposition for it are most vulnerable.

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  6. They probably all have some truth in them, for some.

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