Diets-Metabolism   [back to the Category]

Anorexia   [read the french version]

Author :   Dr Paule Nathan

Anorexia amongst female dancers would seem to be caused by several factors.

The obligation to be slim obviously encourages the appearance of anorexic symptoms. It is strengthened by other factors:

-The decision to enrol in ballet school can be connected to personality traits which result in anorexia.

-The female dancer's mother is often seeking fulfilment for herself through her daughter, in this instance, there is strong emotional tension with affective dependence.

-The physical hyperactivity linked to ballet dancing, the narcissistic hypercathexis can be linked to a compensation of latent overlying disorders which will only become apparent when the dancer stops dancing or if problems are experienced during the curriculum.

-Some people need the strict ballet discipline. A discipline which can, in effect, exercise a self-control. It can also be beneficial because it acts as a safeguard against losing too much weight.

Anorexia is defined in the dictionary as a loss or a decline of appetite. We are not so hungry, for instance when we are ill or worried, our appetite returns when everything is back to normal.

Anorexia nervosa is completely different and is much more serious. Sufferers refuse to eat; the brain, backed by a will of iron, is in control. Sufferers develop a feeling of total control over their bodies which, without their realizing, results in destruction, their bodies become nothing but skin and bones. Those suffering from anorexia will accept nothing other than very thin, even skeletal. The number of sufferers has increased fourfold during the last 50 years. It usually occurs during pre-puberty and teenage years, 9 times out of ten sufferers are girls, cases amongst boys are rare.

It is an illness which must be taken seriously. If you suspect that you are verging on anorexia, do not hesitate, go and speak to your parents, a doctor, your teacher or the school nurse as you need help. The earlier this illness is treated, the better your chances of recovery. The bigger the hold it gets, the greater the repercussions can be on your future life.
It is a serious illness because only 30% of sufferers are cured and lead a normal life, 30% improve and can work but they have no affective or family life, 30% suffer from their illness all their life and 15% die within 15 years.

Watch yourself, if the answer to the following questions is yes:
- Are you afraid of becoming fat or obese?
- Do you have the feeling that you are fat or do you see yourself as being fat even if you are normal or thin? (This is a problem of body image, we never see ourselves as we are)
- Do you drink lots of water when you are hungry to avoid putting on weight?
- Have your periods stopped since you lost weight?
- Are you dieting too rigidly, slimming too quickly and are you below your set weight?
- Have you lost at least a quarter (25%) of your body weight? For example, do you weigh 45kg instead of 60?
- Do you refuse to eat fat, starchy food? Do you pick at your meals, removing fat from food? Do you only want to eat green vegetables and low-fat yoghurts?
- Do you refuse to keep your weight above the minimum weight?
- Are you afraid of gaining even so much as a kilo? Are you still afraid of becoming obese even though you have lost weight?
- Do you still want, at all costs, to lose yet another one or two kilos even though you are too thin?

Why do girls become anorexic?
They conjure up a denial of femininity. The anxiety of puberty and the conflicts which are normal at this age, mean that they "rub out" their teenage years; their body no longer has shape nor life.
Their determination is strengthened by the ideal of being slim or of slimming as conveyed by magazines and fashion shows. Anorexic models are not at all pretty when seen up close on the podium but they portray an ideal image in photographs. Due to the frequency of this illness, it has been decided, in Spain, that models should wear clothes in sizes 10 and 12 instead of sizes 6 and 8.
Sufferers of anorexia often take laxatives and make themselves vomit if they eat in order to empty their bodies completely. They have a kind of dread of introducing and keeping something inside their bodies.
Highly active, they often deceive their close friends and family with their over-activeness. Moreover, they have difficulty in expressing their anxiety, in solving conflicts, in becoming autonomous from their families. They are emotionally over-dependant, their relationships over-fusional. They find life difficult due to unexpressed tensions, the changing of their bodies during their teenage years and their conflicts with their parents. This is why it is necessary to obtain a separation from the parents. It is not a criticism of the family but this separation will distance them and enable them to, at last, express what they feel deep inside themselves; they can learn to have a better image of themselves and their bodies. Psychotherapy treatment is very important, it enables anxieties and fears to be expressed. A weight contract is established, that is, a weight to be obtained in a given time, the priority being to get back to a correct weight before anorexia becomes established. Recovery consists of a decline in eating behaviour disorders and an acceptation of femininity proven by the desire for menstruation to start again.
Anorexia is an illness that is difficult to treat because the sufferer does not want help, her determination is strong. Her challenge: to control her body with a will of iron. Her pleasure: to control her body, her nutrition. It is also a way of controlling emotion, of withholding all expression. For treatment to be successful, the sufferer must accept to undergo psychotherapy and her parents must also be participants on the road to recovery.