The Political and Social Biases of Eating Disorder Treatment, Part III

The difficulty with fully understanding the eating disorder epidemic of the last forty years is distinguishing between the clinical and social aspects of the illnesses. Psychiatry has historically created disorders aimed at marginalizing minority groups such as pathologizing homosexuality or hysteria as a form of invalidating women’s emotions. However, eating disorders are real psychological and medical problems that need treatment but which also just happened to begin a few decades ago. These two facts make them unique in the field.

In this blog, I have written extensively about various components of eating disorder treatment. Clearly, these are serious illnesses that demand medical attention. That must be clear.

However, unlike other psychiatric illnesses, eating disorders are relatively new and have only become a problem because of social pressures largely aimed at girls and women. No other psychiatric disorders are directly caused by the social construct of our society. No other psychiatric disorders affect 90% women.

Although there are genetic and psychosocial factors that cause eating disorders, the number one risk factor is dieting. Without dieting, people very rarely develop eating disorders. Before dieting and thinness became social and cultural norms, these disorders did not even have a name.

The pressure to diet comes from our culture of thinness. The mass marketing of the diet industry, exercise industry, the pervasive images in the media and the false information spread by the medical establishment have created a culture that says thinness is superior and healthy. Any increase in weight is failure. And this information is mostly aimed at girls and women.

The result is a society that condones dieting and starvation and ignores the enormous risk for girls and women.

One aspect of combatting eating disorders is treatment. That machine exists despite the issues discussed in the prior posts. 

The second aspect is preventative. It is necessary for those knowledgeable about eating disorders to start to speak out about the pressures that continue to foster dieting among girls and increase the risk factors of developing these illnesses.

The founders of residential treatment programs were often charismatic and were in the process of starting the groundswell of support that could buoy a social movement to combat dieting pressures. However, the financial companies that have absorbed these programs have also silenced their leaders.

Girls need to learn and understand the pressures they face and the risks they endure. Dieting is not a rite of passage. It’s a form of subjugation and potentially a cause of life threatening illness.