A school of giant, poisonous red herrings
Dr. O'Toole of the Kartini Clinic delivers a powerful blow against all-too-common nonsense about eating disorders:
Parents and Media Not to Blame for Anorexia, Doctor Says
Dr. O’Toole, author of “Give Food a Chance,” argues that anorexia is a brain-based disorder, more like epilepsy than anxiety or OCD.
Let's stop the ping-pong ball of "if it's not parents then it's the media" "if it's not media its academic pressure" "if it's not abuse it's a choice" "if it's not this then you're saying it is that." "no I'm not, I'm saying it's those!"
It's time to look at the facts and stop rehashing the same theories as if there's no alternative. There are things we know about eating disorders and things we know are not true. Finally, we've got more clinics and clinicians speaking up directly - and daring to go up against colleagues in the field - with clear language.
I think this is a great article but I have to disagree with the second line - I strongly believe that OCD is a brain-based disorder too... what are your thoughts on the topic?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the subtitle is flawed. I doubt that O'Toole wrote that, or that she meant that OCD was NOT a brain-based disorder. I think she was using all three as examples of brain-based disorders but putting anorexia closer to epilepsy than OCD is.
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