‘Eating Disorders’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life, Page 2

After the ’size zero’ outcry and the deaths of two young models last year, the modelling industry is seen as a hotbed of eating disorders. The independent Model Health Inquiry was set up to investigate, and recommends that models under 16 should be banned from the catwalks at London Fashion Week. How does this issue affect the average size 14 British woman?

I wonder whether the folks over at TechCrunch actually read our 2004 article on pro anorexia sites before citing it last week as an example of media hype over internet safety? We appreciate the link love, but do they seriously think we’re partly responsible for the results of a survey which found that US parents consider internet safety to be a more serious health threat to children than school violence, sexually transmitted diseases, abuse and neglect? I mean, seriously?

“Like the alcoholic who loses control after the first drink, these people can’t stop at just one cookie,” according to Harvard researcher Dr. James Hudson, lead author of a new study on binge eating disorder as a familial disorder. The study of 300 overweight people and 900 of their family members revealed that a person is twice as likely to binge eat if he or she has a relative who also has the disorder.

Clinical psychologist and recovering anorectic Lucy Daniels offers a psychoanalytic perspective on the treatment of anorexia nervosa and raises concerns about the pitfalls of ineffective treatment.

New research sheds further light on the role of brain chemistry in anorexia nervosa, indicating that disturbances in the way the brain uses serotonin may persist long after recovery from one type of anorexia.