How do Eating Disorders Develop?

The Victorian’s eating disorder treatment center is structured to provide women with individualized one-on-one attention from the very minute she arrives in California, starting with an eating disorder assessment by our specialized eating disorder staff.

Every woman is different.  Each one has unique personalities and experiences, which affect the development of her eating disorder.  The culmination of tradition, family history, culture, value system, community, and religious beliefs all play a role.  While dwelling too much on the underlying cause(s) of an eating disorder is unproductive, knowing them assists in being cured and leading a happy life, free of bulimia, anorexia, or compulsive overeating.

Therefore, it is our goal to indentify the role eating disorders play in the life of each respective individual woman and use that information to provide tools that can be used to overcome it.  Much research has been devoted finding the contributing factors that oftentimes play an important part in the development of an eating disorder.

Biological and Hereditary Indicators

Recent scientific findings have revealed that the development of bulimia, anorexia nervosa, and compulsive overeating can be contributed to genetic factors.

A person’s natural predisposition is partially determined genetically and it appears that certain personality types, such as sensitive-avoidant or obsessive-compulsive, may be have a greater susceptibility to eating disorders.

Recent research findings have discovered that hereditary traits can be a factor for a predisposition to obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviors, anxiety, and perfectionism.  Those women that possess these qualities are more likely to develop eating disorders.

For women that have a sister or mother who suffer from anorexia, they are twelve times more likely to develop the disease themselves.  Similarly, when it comes to bulimia, they are four times more likely.

To make matters worse, when a person starts to binge eat, purge, or starve themselves, those habits can lead to altered brain chemistry, exacerbating the existing eating disorder.

Psychological Indicators

Some women who have eating disorders also are “perfectionists”.  They demand more than the average person from themselves and from others.  No matter how much they have achieved or are liked by others, they still may have a sense of inadequacy.

Certain eating disordered women may use their disease as a reason to avoid sexuality.  Others use it to exert control in their life.  They want to have the feeling of being in charge and of being right.  Outwardly, they show strength and possess the ability to win power struggles, but internally, they feel helpless, fragile, beaten, resentful, and wronged.

Those that suffer from eating disorders oftentimes are searching for themselves.  They make up artificial identities that they think are more socially accepted than their true selves.

These women could be justifiably angry; nevertheless, because of their need for approval and apprehension of criticism, they are unable to directly convey that anger.  They can not do so in a productive manner.  Instead, they take it out on themselves by self-starvation, binge eating, and purging.

The Role of the Family

Some women that suffer from eating disorders may have families that are too involved or not involved enough.  They may have families that they feel suffocate them with attention and protection.  Or, they could have families that do not provide them with enough attention, understanding, or support.  Parents that place a great importance on physical looks may unknowingly contribute in the development of their daughter’s eating disorder.  Even those who make critical comments about appearance, be it jokingly or serious, may be doing the same.

Within families that include women with eating disorders, usually they are controlling, inflexible, and attempts at conflict resolution are unsuccessful.  More than likely, the expectation of success is unusually high.  In these families, the daughters discover not to express their worries, anxieties, imperfections, and reservations.  Rather, their problem solving method involves manipulation of their own weight and improper consumption of food.  This gives them the feeling of appearing successful, regardless of whether they really are successful or not.

It has been proven that the more undue stress or trauma, such as neglect, physical abuse, or the loss of a parent during childhood exists, the greater the likelihood there is of developing emotional and behavioral problems – like eating disorders – in teenage years and young adulthood.

Societal Factors

Women that surround themselves with image-obsessed friends or have over-critical significant others may feel pressure that encourages eating disorders.  Peers could unknowingly influence each other in harmful ways.  This could come from such apparently “positive” activities or affiliations, like dance troupes or sororities.  Other sources include internet chat rooms where some members may rationalize intense dieting as being simply a lifestyle preference.

Women that are at risk for eating disorders frequently find themselves with problems in their relationships.  Others could be more inhibited and only possess conflicted or shallow relationships with others.  Some may appear to be leading exhilarating lives, surrounded by friends and full of social activities.  However, on the inside, they feel that they do not fit in, are misunderstood by everyone, and lack true friends or confidants that they can go to share personal thoughts.  The dread of potential disapproval and rejection due to the revelation of their supposed shortcomings and flaws prevent women from creating and fostering meaningful and significant friendships.

Impact of the Media

On a constant daily basis, we are inundated with a stream of images from the media featuring successful and seemingly fulfilled women that are played by actors and professional models.  They are typically always thin, young, and toned.  More than likely, they are dressed stylishly, with time-consuming hairdos and made-up faces.  These media-driven images produce an unrealistic benchmark for women to aspire to.  It creates an obsession for some to replicate the models and professions they see in magazines and on television.

Some women may feel that if their appearance does not align with the ideal depicted in the media or advertising, that they really are not accepted within society.  Rather than receive the marketing message of ads trying to sell cosmetics, clothing, or beauty services, some women read into it that because their appearance is different than these professional models, that that is why they are not happy.

These conclusions are backed by studies.  One reveals that in females that watch TV regularly (three nights a week or more), half of them are more likely than those that do not watch TV regularly to feel that they are “too fat”.  In the same regular TV-watching female teen group, approximately two-thirds dieted during the month directly before the study was conducted.  Disturbingly, 15% used vomiting as a means of curbing their weight.  Television is a wonderful form of entertainment, but when women watch shows and commercials thinking that they should be looking like thin professional actors and models rather than themselves, something is wrong.

Potential Eating Disorder Triggers

For those women that may be susceptible to eating disorders due to any (of a combination) of the contributing factors listed above, there could be certain trigger events that increase the chances of acquiring (it may even take years after the event occurs) an eating disorder.  This trigger could be in the form of someone teasing the woman about her weight or something more traumatic, like rape or molestation.

For girls that mature and physically develop (such as in their breasts and hips) quicker than others, there is evidence that suggests they could have an increased chance of developing eating disorders.  They may think that their bodies are “awkward” because they do not resemble the less-developed ones of their peers.  Or, they may think that because they have new curves, that it is a sign of fattening.

Due to the desire for control, but without the correct means of doing so, coupled with the ideal image of female beauty in their heads dictated by the media and advertising, a woman may try to “fix things” by doing so with their body, rather than dealing with the issues at hand.  These activities manifest as bulimia, anorexia, or binge and compulsive overeating.

The Eating Disorder Quiz

If you or someone you love may be suffering from an eating disorder, please take the eating disorder quiz.  It may provide you with details about abnormal eating habits that may be signs of anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders.

Speak With Our Experts about Eating Disorders and Addiction

Our staff at the Victorian treatment center is expertly trained and highly experienced in answering all your eating disorder-related questions in a compassionate and thoughtful manner.  Eating disorders are destructive and dangerous and the time is now to end yours or someone’s you love.  We want to help.  Please reach out and contact us.