Eating disorders, as seen from this perspective, represent an attempt to gain control over one’s sense of self. In anorexia in particular, a woman’s entire self-worth is boiled down to a number on a scale.
Eating disorders have long been thought of as the affliction of the young. However, the more we learn about disordered eating, the more we have come to realize that this problem is far more complex than that, and affects women across the lifespan.
How do you promote genuine feelings of self-worth?
A recent study suggests that around the time of menopause there is a second peak of onset of eating disorders. The good news is the binge eating disorder is treatable.
This week, Dr. Ford counsels a husband whose wife’s switch from lawyer to stay-at-home-mom has triggered an obsession for diet, exercise, too much drinking, and the overscheduling of her children’s lives.