How Trauma Can Lead to the Development of Eating Disorders, and How Anxiety and Depression are Interrelated
Eating disorders (ED) affect 11 million Americans in the United States (Eating Disorder Hope, 2018)..[1]. There is a high prevalence of individuals with eating disorders also dealing with anxiety and depression disorders, and some evidence suggests that these disorders are co-occurring and not simply coincidentally co-existing, pointing to the fact that they need to be treated simultaneously and continuously rather than as separate and isolated conditions. It can’t be unarguably stated that anxiety or depression cause an individual to develop an eating disorder; however, there have been studies that support the fact that many people (~75%) who do suffer from an eating disorder have also suffered from an anxiety disorder in their life (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2016) [2]; and when an individual is shown to be dealing with both an ED and an anxiety disorder simultaneously, they are most commonly Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Social Phobia [3]. Additional support for the fact that anxiety, depression, and eating disorders are interrelated conditions comes from the Centers for Eating Disorders (CED), which supplies statistically significant evidence regarding this topic. Research shows that approximately 50-75% of individuals who seek treatment for an eating disorder experience major depression at some point during their lifetime, although it is still unknown whether or not depression causes an eating disorder to develop or vice versa, or if one of these disorders simply amplifies the symptoms of the other [3].
In recent years, there has been a noticeable correlation of emotional/physical stressors going hand-in-hand with the development of an eating disorder. This is because these individuals feel out of control due to these stressors and attempt to control one aspect of their lives (i.e. caloric intake, amount of exercise, binging, etc.), leading to the development of an eating disorder as a form of coping. This is especially true for individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Evidence on this topic suggests that these individuals generally have a predisposition to stress, making them more susceptible to stressor-induced anxiety in their lives [4]
In addition to anxiety and stress contributing to the development of an eating disorder, there is also some research that suggests that traumatizing events, such as childhood sexual abuse, emotional abuse, bullying, neglect, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from a variety of situations can contribute to the development of eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in women. Recently, several studies have been conducted that reveal the major role that trauma can contribute to the development of eating disorders. Trauma, such as those listed above, was found to be associated with the highest prevalence of eating disorder development out of any other known cause. While the exact mechanism for how trauma contributes to the development of eating disorders remains undetermined, the current school of thought is that individuals, unable to cope with their unresolved psychological and/or emotional trauma, turn to eating disorders as a way to cope with their pain[5]; [6]
References[edit]
• “Eating Disorders, Trauma, PTSD and Psychosocial Resources” Tagay, S., Schlottbohm, E., Reyes-Rodriguez, M. L., Repic, N., & Senf, W. (2014). Eating Disorders, Trauma, PTSD and Psychosocial Resources. Eating Disorders, 22(1), 33–49. http://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2014.857517 • “Eating disorders, trauma, PTSD, and psychosocial resources.” Tagay S, Schlottbohm E, Reyes-Rodriguez ML, Repic N, Senf W. Eat Disord. 2014;22(1):33-49. doi: 10.1080/10640266.2014.857517.
• “Traumatic events, posttraumatic stress symptomatology and somatoform symptoms in eating disorder patients.” Tagay S, Schlegl S, Senf W. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2010 Mar;18(2):124-32. doi: 10.1002/erv.972.
• “Post-traumatic stress disorder in women with eating disorders.” Hepp U, Spindler A, Schnyder U, Kraemer B, Milos G. Eat Weight Disord. 2007 Mar;12(1):e24-7.
• “Prevalence and impact of post-traumatic stress disorder in a disordered eating population sample.” Vierling V, Etori S, Valenti L, Lesage M, Pigeyre M, Dodin V, Cottencin O, Guardia D. Presse Med. 2015 Nov;44(11):e341-52. doi:10.1016/j.lpm.2015.04.039. French.
• “Posttraumatic stress disorder in eating disorder patients: The roles of psychological distress and timing of trauma.” Isomaa R, Backholm K, Birgegård A. Psychiatry Res. 2015 Dec 15;230(2):506-10. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.09.044. Epub 2015 Sep 30.
• “Survey of eating disorder symptoms among women in treatment for substance abuse.” Cohen LR, Greenfield SF, Gordon S, Killeen T, Jiang H, Zhang Y, Hien D. Am J Addict. 2010 May-Jun;19(3):245-51. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2010.00038.x.
• “Eating disorders and trauma history in women with perinatal depression.” Meltzer-Brody S, Zerwas S, Leserman J, Holle AV, Regis T, Bulik C. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Jun;20(6):863-70. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2010.2360.
• “Anorectic and bulimic patients suffer from relevant sexual dysfunctions.” Castellini G, Lelli L, Lo Sauro C, Fioravanti G, Vignozzi L, Maggi M, Faravelli C, Ricca V. J Sex Med. 2012 Oct;9(10):2590-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02888.x. Epub 2012 Aug 23.
• “Is there a link between traumatic experiences and self-injurious behaviors in eating-disorder patients?” Claes L, Vandereycken W. Eat Disord. 2007 Jul-Sep;15(4):305-15.
• Eating Disorder Statistics for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2018, from https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/statistics-studies
• Eating Disorders. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2018, from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/eating-disorders#
• Eating Disorders, Trauma, and PTSD. (2017, June 26). Retrieved February 17, 2018, from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/eating-disorders-trauma-ptsd-recover • Anxiety Disorders. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml
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