The Role of Food and Eating

There are few conditions that attract as much media attention as eating disorders, and yet there are many misconceptions surrounding the whole area of food and eating. We need food, water and air; they are the three essentials of life. What are we saying if we are endangering life with an unhealthy relationship with two of those three essentials?

We may eat a healthy diet or we may use food as the silent language of emotional pain, it is a fundamental part of daily life which we cannot avoid. There is still a great deal to learn about the factors regulating our eating behaviours.

We know that the desire to eat and drink as well as the feelings of being hungry, thirsty and satisfied, are affected by a complex interplay of physiological, psychological, social and symbolic factors.

It is not unusual to experiment with eating habits.

“Behaviour is an experiment.” ¹

Our behaviour with food, like anything else, can be construed as: if we do “this” then “that” will be the result. So what are we saying when the result of our experiment can be severe self-harm even death? Imagine the untold pain to those who love us, as they stand by and watch helplessly in spite of all their efforts to be effective in our sometimes unwanted recovery.

What then happens when we do “this” and “that” does not happen? Do we continue with the same behaviour when we know that the result will not be the weight loss we so desire? Or do we try to understand what is happening to our bodies and our lives as we stubbornly, or so it seems to others, continue along this path of self-destruction?

“Your questions indicate the depth of your belief. Look at the depth of your questions.” ²

1. George Kelly, Psychology of Personal Constructs 1955 'an experiment in living'
2. John and Lyn St Clair-Thomas, The Eye of the Beholder