History
Are Eating Disorders
New?
Eating disorders are not new. Anorexia has its roots as far back as the 13th century. It was seen
often with religious women who were actually canonized as being saints for their fasting practices. These woman are often
referred to as "holy anorexics." Eating disorders probably occurred in other societies for different reasons than
in our own. The cultures in which these young women lived valued spiritual health, fasting, and self-denial much as our
own values thinness, self-control and athleticism. Holy anorexia provided women with a highly valued status in both church
and society. When the definition of holiness was altered, so eventually was the incidence of holy anorexia. There are some
hints of bulimia during these centuries also but no actual confirmed cases. Some of these women were suspected of binge-eating
practices as well as their restricting (Bell, 1985;
Davis & Bell, 1985; Zerbe, 1995).
However, in the
time of Caesar (700 B.C.), bulimia was demonstrated significantly by the presence of vomitoriums. "Eat, drink, and
be merry" included vomiting so that a person could return for additional eating, drinking and merriment (Thaddeus,
1927).
Although many eating disorders often have their origins in adolescence, a great percentage of those suffering
with the disorder are not treated at the time of onset. All three disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge
eating tend to be secretive in nature especially initially. While anorexia and binge-eating eventually have visual side
effects or indicators such as steady or dramatic weight loss or weight gain, bulimia can go undetected for years. The denial
of the person suffering also plays a crucial role in the delaying of treatment
for such disorders. Therefore, the percentage
of adolescent-aged eating disorder clients seen in treatment is lower than the actual prevalent rate. Generally those suffering
from an eating disorder will seek help when their denial drops enough to see that their lives are being disrupted by the
destructive behaviors which accompany eating disorders (Bryant-Waugh & Lask, 1995; Killen, Hayward, Wilson, Taylor,
Hammer, Litt, Simmonds & Haydel, 1994; Speed, 1995; Zerbe, 1995).
There is no one reason why an individual
develops an eating disorder. Quite frequently cultural influences play an important role in disordered eating symptomatology
and development. There appears to be no universal precipitating occurrence for an eating disorder's development. Likewise,
a deep seated psychologically traumatic event is not required for the evolution of an eating disorder. A significant number
of individuals with eating difficulties report after reviewing their own history with the eating disorder, that their symptoms
developed during or shortly after a diet they were following (Johnson, Tosh & Varnado, 1996; Stice, Schupak-Neuberg,
Shaw & Stein, 1994; Rosen, J., Compas, B. & Tacy, B., 1993; Thornton & Russell, 1997; Yaryura, Neziroglu &
Kaplan, 1995).
Deborah J. Kuehnel, LCSW, © 1998
