How do I gain control of my life?

What did the expert mean when she said that eating disorders are about wanting to gain some control in ones life?

• Answer:

  Because, generally, no one can "force" you to eat anything. Even if you put someone in a psychiatric ward, they can only take away their privileges (i.e. visitors, phone calls...etc.) and/or put a tube down their throat in which the "anorexic" or "bulimic" person could twist themselves or the tube to keep it from going into them. When a person is anorexic the only control they feel they have is to starve themselves and they "cling" themselves to it. When a person is bulimic, they may or may not feel they can control what they eat, but they can control what "comes out" (i.e. vomiting, over exercising... etc.), and they "cling" to that. In both cases, vomiting and starvation causes a "euphoric high" that many people with ED's experience and enjoy.