Bulimea and Anorexia have high co-morbidity with Personality Disorders. I am starting this thread for discussion and research, as well as personal support and a place of validation.

This is not so much a place to urge Anorexics to start eating or Bulimics to stop gorging and purging via laxatives or vomiting, but simply a place that might lead to some understanding .... a place to talk without judgement, without shaming, without coercion.

Teri

Hi Teri,
I'm a little confused. I'm sorry but I just wanted to ask about this in case I post something that's way off your topic because of my not understanding what you're suggesting. Like... if I wanted to post articles or information about anorexia and OCD or anorexia and Tourette Syndrome, would that be totally off topic? Are you meaning this thread is for people to discuss Personality Disorders and/with comorbid Eating Disorders such as Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa, or Bulimia and Anorexia separately. thanks in advance.

Hi Lara ....

Nope, no "rules" like that --- I am just hoping that, unlike the "weight issues" forum, those who post here can be assured that they do NOT have to post about wanting to gain weight, nor will they be urged to gain weight.

ALSO, no one has to stick to this thread -- I want to see LOTS of threads!! I just hope people label their threads clearly so others can find topics of interest -- my title, by the way, wasn't really the best, I guess.

The PD stuff was just a general topic of another tie-in... Originally I was going to reference an article after the part I had written myself, but I suddenly just realized that if I didn't go shopping, I wouldn't have any supper or anything to eat tomorrow!!

But THANK YOU for posting so I can go back and do some editing --- if I confused one person, it is guaranteed that I will confuse other people, too.

So POST IT ALL!!! I binge -- but I can't make myself vomit, can't see living a life of a box of Ducolax a day (like an old friend of mine), so I just gain weight and keep it...

Teri

OK. I understand now. I just wasn't sure.
A boy who was in my son's class at school was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa back in around Year 5 or 6. Well, I think he was actually diagnosed with OCD but he also had anorexia and that was very detrimental to his wellbeing indeed. It was at a time that my own son was experiencing a lot of health issues and I was spending heaps of time at school helping out with various things like reading and art classes in the primary school.

It helped me keep in touch with the people who were around my children all day and be around if my son wasn't doing well and also I enjoyed it. For many months I watched as this other boy started doing some really noticeable behaviours. He'd been bullied for being overweight (he wasn't very overweight at all, in fact, it was just that he was heavier than the group he was hanging out with at school who were all skinny as rakes and involved in athletics) in the earlier years and got to the stage where he was obsessively exercizing, even at school. He'd run up and down stairs over and over until he was exhausted... things like that. Everything progressed over the next year and he became very ill indeed and needed hospitalization and treatments.

It was a very difficult time for his whole family as well. I think about that boy all the time. He'd be about 20 years old now. I have no idea if he's doing well or not. It's just a reminder about how it's not only girls or women who have these issues and the bullying was certainly a trigger.

Hi Lara and Teri,
I am interested in what you all have to say about this topic because I hope to specialize in Eating Disorders one day, particularly with other mental health issues as well. I recently read an article in a magazine about a facility that is near my home that I would like to work at. I am not really sure what I could add to the topic though.

However, most eating disorders are caused by bullying or some association with food that is disturbing. Often cases are linked to parents that constantly remind their kids about dieting or those that model themselves after a parent that also has an eating disorder. Bullying is a big factor too, I actually know someone in my high school that was bullied and ended up switching schools and was shown on a news special for eating disorders. She said she used to eat lunch in the bathroom out of embarrassment. I think that eating disorders end up becoming a personality disorder in the long run since it becomes who you are. I am wondering about statistics with OCD since it seems like it is common too for those with eating disorders because of obsessive exercising or food rituals. I wish I knew more about it all. Have any of you seen those Australian twins on I think Extra? Tracy Gold from Growing Pains went to see them to help them out too.

I have diagnosed OCD and my doctor also thinks I also have anorexia . I am most likley getting an ng feeding tube on Friday, April 6, 2007 . Have a few questions: is it painful to get an ng feeding tube ? What does it feel like ? Can restraints be used if you ask for them (they calm me down)? Does the doctor sedate you?

T. J.

I may have a small piece of information for you.

The first thing I want to address is your statement about co-morbidity. You should understand that the disorders of the DSM do not actually exist. By that I mean they are names given to observed and sorted behaviors. The authors of the DSM freely admit they do not know what causes any mental disorder. What you should take from that is there is no line where one "disorder" begins and another ends.

Look instead to when the disorder usually appears in the effected population. Does it begin after puberty? Does it have a strong representation among college students? If the answer to those questions is yes, then Subliminal Distraction may be the source of the behavior through operant conditioning.

Why is this true? Subliminal Distraction is driven by subliminal sight and detected threat movement in peripheral vision. At puberty body size increases so that movement in peripheral vision in classrooms is more likely to be detected. College students spend more time in lectures than other lower grade students so that they have higher exposure. They use computers in locations without Cubicle Level Protection, and they often live in incorrectly designed dorm rooms with other students. Those dorm roommates provide movement in peripheral vision if one student attempts to study or use their computer while the other student moves in the room.

VisionAndPsychosis.Net is my Internet scratch pad for research into the problem. No diagnosis or treatment is offered. My site is about prevention of exposure from Subliminal Distraction. I have personal experience that this phenomenon is the cause of panic attacks.

I always caution readers not to stop treatment or stop seeing doctors while you investigate this phenomenon. Evaluating Subliminal Distraction will not interfere with any treatment you now have.

If the information benefits you fine. Search your activities to locate places where you have the "special circumstances" for exposure from SD. Make small changes in behaviors to limit your exposure.

It is not necessary to completely eliminate exposure. We all have exposure from SD every day. Most of it is harmless. The problem arises when your total accumulated exposure exceeds your threshold to cause psychiatric symptoms.

If SD is the cause of your problem but you have had the problem for a long time you will still require counseling to unlearn the behavior. But stopping or lowering the level of exposure might stop some of your problems thus making current treatment more effective.

Visit the site and perform the psychology demonstration of habituation in peripheral vision to understand how exposure begins.

The Anorexia material is on the Culture Bound Syndromes page.