2008 Woodie Awards
Battling the Extremes of Eating Disorders and Perfectionism
Ann Smith
With a New Year underway, it is often traditional to make weight loss a holiday resolution, especially as we are becoming more and more bombarded with information about dieting, obesity, and chronic health conditions. Consumers and health professionals must sort through the competing messages from the scientific, government and media communities to better understand the concepts of normal weight, healthy eating, and exercise. This process can be challenging and not everyone can succeed in making wise decisions when it comes to their health. In fact, in the
Furthermore, myths about eating disorders are still pervasive, and many believe that the conditions are limited to affluent adolescent and college-aged females. However, while eating disorders continue to be problems for teens and young women between the ages of 15 and 24, there is also increasing evidence that middle-aged women and women of color at any age struggle significantly with these very same conditions.
In an effort to dispel some of the misconceptions and to raise awareness of the issues associated with eating and body image disorders, the last week in February has been declared Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
The Role of Perfectionism in Eating Disorders
In a culture driven to excel, one way that women, in particular, have channeled the pursuit of perfection is through preoccupation with their appearance and weight. Daughters of the baby-boom generation have multiple opportunities to pursue educational and career goals, as well as to develop fulfilling relationships and family life. However, as a result, women often find themselves juggling multiple commitments at once, all the while feeling the pressure to demonstrate perfection in everything they undertake.
In turn, this need to excel translates itself into the attitude they take toward their physical appearance as well, because frequently, these driven women view attainment of the cultural standard of beauty as another means to power and control. The pressures of striving for perfection trigger anxiety, shame, guilt, loneliness, and despair and these emotions often lead individuals to cope by controlling their body and their eating. This unhealthy coping pattern can range from subtle worries and preoccupations with food and physique in times of stress to rigid rules and daily obsessions with calorie counting, excessive exercise, or purging what was ingested, often to the point of self-injury.
And on a temporary basis, this might in fact allay some of the negative emotions that consume these individuals. Restrictive eating and labeling foods as “bad” or “good” may calm fears and provide a sense of self-control in an environment where the expectations are high, and competitive overachievers are plenty. Binging and disregarding physical cues of fullness provide temporary relief from the discomfort of perceived inadequacies, or fulfills a sense of emptiness. Purging may relieve the anxiety and guilt of possible weight gain, although may only trigger more feelings of shame. Finally, over-exercisers become habituated to the endorphin rush, even though they are at risk of injury.
However, in the long-run these approaches only serve to hurt these individuals striving for perfection. A balanced sense of achievement allows for establishing more realistic expectations based on self-awareness and identity. This, in turn, would allow one to cope with situations where perfect results were not attained. However, individuals who perceive success and achievement in extremes, based on inflexible and possibly unattainable standards of performance, are unable to tolerate any deviation from the ideal. If goals (whether academic, career or dieting) aren’t achieved, what often follows is self-criticism and the magnification of faults. Women and men who strive for rigid and unrealistic ideals of beauty and body shape, and then aren’t able to achieve what they deem to be “perfect,” usually minimize their other strengths and successes, or don’t acknowledge them at all, and self-esteem plummets. Such “all or nothing” patterns in thinking can contribute to a view that any mistake is proof of failure.
Thus, eating disorders and perfectionism have a pervasive and destructive effect on multiple levels, both emotional and physical. Hence, it is imperative to develop a healthy attitude toward ambition, achievement, and body image early on in order to prevent the detrimental effects that can result otherwise.
Helpful Tips for Coping
· A less than perfect performance should teach us that there are degrees of accomplishment, not just success and failure.
· Experiencing a setback can give you a new perspective on yourself and should prompt you to try again.
· Engage in a broad range of activities and experiences without measuring performance.
· Learn to distinguish the mass media’s messages of ideal beauty and success from what seems reasonable and authentic in your own life.
· Learn to identify your body’s physical cues for hunger and fullness. Engage in physical activity for the enjoyment and for the health benefits.
If you think you’ve become too preoccupied with food, a negative body image or exercise, seek help.
Resources for Further Information
The
Helpful Websites
Eating Disorders Consortium of
Eating Disorders Network of
Comprehensive website with multiple sources of information for the general public and health care professionals: http://www.something-fishy.org
National Association of Anorexia and Associated Eating Disorders: http://www.anad.org/
National Eating Disorders Association: www.nationaleatingdisorders.org