T o n g u e T i e d

People with eating disorders have difficulty expressing themselves: their feelings, their wants, their needs, their desires... the eating disorder is an attempt to express these things, however, it fails because the outside world does not interprete the messages correctly.

If someone binges and purges the response from others is NOT "what is s/he angry about?" but instead it is often one of concern, judgement, or worry. Yet, people with eating disorders do NOT want others to worry about them, they want the approval of others and/or the acceptance of others. However, the eating disorder evokes worry and not much else.

In essence, we (as people with eating disorders) are "tonge tied" and our attempts to express things are NOT working the way we want them to.

An anorexic usually does not want to be told what to do (what to eat, what to weigh), but his/her behavior evokes that in others. Instead the anorexic often wants to be given permission to do things their own way, to not have to fufil other people's expectations, to live their own life... yet when someone is anorexic the response is that they need to be told how to do things (more so than non-anorexics) and they can't live their own life... it is a T W I S T E D illness in this way (and in many other ways!). Compulsive eaters are often lonely and yet they isolate, for example. Actually, there are numerous paradoxes in the eating disorders and I encourage all to consider what their paradoxes might be, what their metaphors might be, because it will help you get to know yourself better. One of the many ways to help treat eating disorders in through artwork, it helps untie the tongue in a great way, and it makes it easier to get to the step of talking about it outloud. Below are examples of artwork done by people struggling with disordered eating. For more such pictures, please check out the Rader Programs site, where more art therapy is displayed... And take the time to buy yourself a box of paints and a set of paper and try it yourself... I have witnessed amazing moments of recovery and insight while leading creative expression groups!!

Below, the "starving artists":