Nina, a twenty-seven-year-old, had experienced several episodes of dramatic weight loss, beginning at age twenty when she was going through the dissolution of her first marriage. She had an intense fear of becoming fat and although she had never really been overweight, she felt her body was far too large, even when she weighed only seventy pounds. During the periods of weight loss, she severely restricted her intake of food and used laxatives heavily. She’d occasionally have episodes of binge eating, typically followed by self-induced vomiting so that she would not gain any weight.
Nina had anorexia nervosa. The phrase anorexia refers to loss of appetite and nervosa signals that this loss has an emotional basis. The term is a contradiction because most patients with anorexia nervosa actually do not lose their appetite or interest in food – on the contrary, patients with the disorder become preoccupied with food while starving themselves.
The official criteria for anorexia nervosa are:
- Refusal to maintain normal body weight
- Although already very underweight, have extreme fear of becoming fat
- Body image distress
Anorexia nervosa typically begins in the early to middle teenage years, often after an episode of dieting and the occurrence of a traumatic situation.
Anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening illness. Due to physical complications of the illness death rates are ten times higher among patients with the disorder than among the general population.
The underlying conditions for an eating disorder are anxiety, low self-esteem, guilt, anger, and depression.
Do you have an eating disorder?
You are likely to have anorexia nervosa if you:
- Miss meals
- Keep your weight as low as possible by starving and exercising excessively
- Believe yourself to be fat when others say you are too thin.
You are likely to have bulimia if you:
- Control your weight by severely restricting the amount of food you eat followed by bouts of binge eating and food purging by making yourself sick or by using laxatives.
- Thinking about food dominates your mind and you feel compelled to overeat.
Food is the main factor in maintaining good health or causing diseases
Excessive eating or starvation is extremely harmful for the body, but the mind is responsible for the sickness. It is the mind that controls the brain and senses.
Nina was cured from anorexia nervosa by mind transformation – which included healing the aftermath of a disturbed parent-child relationship, low self-esteem and self-criticism. Nina experienced feelings of helplessness, ineffectiveness and powerlessness conditioned by the controlling, critical and punitive parenting style she had experienced. By purifying her mind from these painful memories and impressions, she regained her self-love and control over her mind and senses.