The bio-psycho-social-economical model
Headline: Bad Economy Spurs Eating Disorders
According to Twin Cities, the patient load at Park Nicollet’s Melrose Institute/St. Louis has increased by 36 percent from one year ago, while the patient load at The Emily Program/St. Paul has increased by 20 percent for the same time period.
For instance, he says, people who suffer from an obsession with their weight, but who exercise to control weight gain rather than starve themselves, may no longer be able to afford their gym memberships. In that case, Jahraus says, they may decide to limit their food intakes, which can lead to eating disorders.
Oh, this article could have been so interesting! It was an interesting thought. The part about not being able to afford your gym membership and therefore developing an eating disorder killed the article (for me), though. Oh well…
Still, I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that a bad economy spurs eating disorders… but rather that a bad economy motivates more people to get help for their eating disorders. Why is this?
Well, I think that there are several reasons….
- A big barrier to treatment is work. You have responsibilities… you can’t just disappear for a month or two to go into treatment all day. If you are laid off, though, suddenly you are available in the middle of the day. You don’t have another commitment. You have time to get the treatment that maybe you’ve needed for a couple of years but never felt you had time to get.
- Feelings of disappointment, shame, and embarrassment. These are tough feelings for anyone, but are especially tough feelings for someone with an eating disorder. It’s not unlikely for someone with an ED to take being laid off personally… as if they somehow failed. They might think it is a reflection of themselves — they’re not good enough. What are they going to tell friends and family? Others will be so disappointed. When you’re feeling this depressed and hopeless, you’re more motivated to go and get help — you don’t want to feel like this.
- Lack of structure. Many people with eating disorders struggle with endless periods of free time. Work provides a daily structure that’s helpful. When you are missing that, sometimes things fall apart. Maybe getting intense treatment will help you with that transition… to either help you figure out how to cope with the free time or to tide you over until you get a new job.
- Friends and family have time to notice your issues. If you’re at work all day, your friends and family might not realize how little you’re eating or how much you’re exercising. When you’re suddenly at home all the time, they have a much clearer picture of what your eating/exercising habits are like during the day… and they might be concerned and encourage you to get treatment.
I agree that this article could have been interesting, but it just completely missed the point and shows how little people understand about eating disorders. Deciding to limit one’s food intake simply because you can’t exercise doesn’t lead to eating disorders – restricting may start to trigger further restricting and produce a downward spiral, but I would argue that the person who is simply going to the gym to control their weight instead of starving already has the eating disordered thoughts. Someone with a healthy approach to exercise wouldn’t see it as “starve or workout to control weight”, they would think that the gym was part of a healthy lifestyle, and not being able to afford it simply meant trying to find another way (like walking or biking outside) to get in some exercise.
In other words, it is articles like this that really trivialize how serious eating disorders really are. This makes it sound like they are all about controlling weight and looking good! In reality, anyone who develops an eating disorder because they lose their gym membership already has some ED thoughts prior to this event and this might just be the “trigger” to fully set off the behaviors that signify the underlying problem.
I do like your thoughts, though. There have been numerous studies done on the relationship between the bad economy and depression/suicide, and I think a number of the conclusions in those studies could probably be extrapolated to eating disorders. To add to your list, I would say that I catch myself feeling guilty whenever I spend a lot of money on food. I usually try to think of food in the way that someone else might think of medicine – I need to make buying it a priority, but when I keep seeing all over the TV the need to “cut back” it is easy for my mind to think “i shouldn’t be spending this much on food”. But again, that thinking doesn’t cause an eating disorder, it is indicative of an underlying problem in the way I think about food.
Wait, you are talking about eating disorders and not just anorexia aren’t you? Because people with bulimia eat A LOT, and so do compulsive overeaters and binge eaters. They may or may not purge by exercising or vomiting. They may or may not be losing weight or even care about their weight. And they still, also, have eating disorders.
A few things:
First, I completely agree that those suffering from EDs struggle when they have too much time. So, being laid off is definitely a problem, as there is too much head time.
I also think that a rough economy creates a lot of internal stress. In my experience my ED is at its worst when I am stressed in any sense (i think my ED has developed in an effort to control my anxiety.. thoughts on this?). So instead of focusing on the anxiety, some may gravitate towards eating and exercise. Personally, I control my anxiety through exercise. In the event that I am unable to exercise I tend to freak out (not always, but when I am stressed out, yes). If exercise is limited eating habits can become worse.
I think the question of whether or not the poor economy causes more people to seek treatment is a matter of environment and the state of the person. If the person is unstable to begin with, it is less likely he/she will seek help. And, I think there would be less time for family to recognize problems- most are too wrapped up in their own issues.
I like your points, though. If the person is more stable and the proper environment is present, it is completely reasonable that that person would seek help. But again, it all depends.
I hope this makes sense! I kind of rambled.