We often wonder how the mind of someone with an eating disorder works. It may seem that because of how emaciated an anorexic is, it must be easy for her not to eat. How else could she lose so much weight and eat so little? We could never do that; it would be too difficult.
An eating disorder is not listed in the psychiatric diagnostic manual as a dissociative disorder, but it probably could be. According to the dictionary, dissociate means “cut the association with oneself” Prayed “pull apart.”
There is a continuum of dissociative experience. We all experience it to one degree or another. When you’re driving and “spaced out” and don’t remember part of the journey in how you got to your destination; that’s a very mild form of dissociation.
The extreme form of dissociation is when someone experiences what used to be known as “multiple personality disorder.” It means that they have separated from themselves to the extent that they have multiple personalities or identities.
The person separates to manage extreme pain. Each identity carries a different aspect of pain and trauma, so no one personality has to feel it all.
An anorexic’s ability to separate herself from hunger is part of why she can limit her caloric intake. She will say that she is not hungry or that she does not “feel” hungry. This is not really true, she feels hungry.
The problem is that she becomes so adept at ignoring hunger cues and dissociating herself from her body’s needs that she can forget what hunger feels like. Reconnecting with your body is difficult and takes time. Although an anorexic wants to pretend that starving herself is not difficult, the reality is; It is very difficult.
Some behaviors you may see in your attempts to stave off hunger:
1) Suck certificates, tic tacs and other mint-like products
2) Drink lots of diet soda to feel fuller
3) chewing gum
4) Avoid places where you feel tempted to eat (with friends, parties, restaurants)
This is information to know as you try to help your child recover. You don’t necessarily have to confront these behaviors when you see them; I just know this is probably what’s going on. She is hungry. She just won’t admit it.
