Sexual abuse has many different effects on the eating habits and the perception of one’s body image. Eating disorders help the victim gain control over their bodies to counteract the feelings of lack of control they might have experienced during the abuse. Sexual abuse violates the boundaries of a person so drastically that certain aspects such as hunger, fatigue, or sexuality become very difficult to acknowledge. As was stated by the national eating disorder association; “troubled family and personal relationships and a history of physical or sexual abuse are two of the greatest interpersonal factors which cause people to develop eating disorder”. (NEDA, 2012). Particularly those who have sexually abused may turn to food to mask their abuse. It is the victim’s confusion and uncertainty about their inner perceptions which leads them to put all their sole focus on food. A history of sexual violence can serve as a predictor of ensuing problems with food. When a woman goes through a traumatic experience such as sexual abuse it is known to be a significant risk factor for the development of such eating disorders, particularly those characterized by bulimic symptoms, such as binge eating and purging,” says Dr. Timothy Breweton, an expert in the field of trauma and eating disorders. (Breweton, 2008). Many victims of sexual abuse begin to feel disassociated from their bodies. The eating disorders become as a means of survival for them. The disorder the victim holds over powers them, in the sense that the disorder convinces the sufferers that the eating disorder behaviors are healthy and required. From the trauma they have experienced, binge eating and purging can develop as a kind of coping mechanism. As was stated, binge eating and purging appear to be behaviors that facilitate decreasing the anxiety associated with trauma.
The purpose of this essay is to examine the connection between sexual abuse and eating disorders. Sexual abuse can cause a victim to feel disgusted with his or her own body. Other such feelings that a victim may experience as a result of sexual abuse include repulsiveness and hatred towards himself or herself as well as towards the perpetrator. I will thoroughly examine the effects of the traumatic experience, a definition on what sexual abuse is will about. I will begin by talking about the sexual abuse of children, as one’s childhood is a crucial time in their development, for a child to experience something this painful will ultimately lead them to various stressors such as eating disorders. From this, the analysis will move towards victims of domestic violence; who have also experienced sexual abuse, and its harsh consequences of coping with the abuse, included in this will be about victims who have and currently suffer from post-traumatic disorder from the sexual abuse, and how it leads to eating disorders.
Childhood sexual abuse survivors later develop eating disorders often engage in behaviors that help to numb intense feelings; called dissociation. The victims will suffer from depression, anxiety, drug addiction, alcoholism and most importantly eating disorders. (Schwartz,1996). Particularly with child sexual abuse, there has been a large amount of research related to the effect of child sexual abuse on body image. It is believed that thirty percent of individuals with an eating disorder have been sexually abused. (Postmus, 2013). A strong view that body shame sparks a lot of eating disorders related to child sexual abuse The body shame can trigger habits which lead to destroying the body of the victim who is so ashamed, thus results in starvation, purging, or binge eating, depending on the form of the eating disorder. As the child grows up they try to find new ways to cope with the effects of the abuse. Eating disorders which are related to sexual abuse are also viewed as coping mechanisms which are similar to those who engage in other self- harming activities such as consuming and taking drugs. (McCoy, 2014). The victims of sexual abuse usually have a low self-esteem and feel a distrust towards others, they also feel a lack of control and even a feeling of being trapped. Survivors may feel a loss of immense control over their bodies and their lives. Self-blame is one of the consequences in which the victims carry a tremendous burden of guilt. They may feel a need to push others away, in order to protect themselves. (Breweton, 2012). Food, binging and purging and restriction and or starvation may all provide a sense of safety, and security that they are not able to find anywhere else.
There are many different effects of the abuse that the victim endures; such as powerlessness, body dissatisfactions. Research has found that patients presenting with an eating disorder and a past history of sexual abuse and trauma are more likely to report engaging in self-destructive behavior and impulsivity (Wonderlich, 2001). It is in our nature to want to be able to control certain things in our lives, for example, what we study in post-secondary, who we form relationships with and the list goes on. As the desire for self-control is evident in many individuals with eating disorders when combined with a history of sexual trauma, an increased need to gain control over the body results. When the victim restricts their food intake, for a short period of time the person will feel as if they are in control of their own body. Adverse family environments may exacerbate the role of affect in disordered eating. For example, childhood emotional abuse is associated with greater levels of and fluctuations in negative affect among women with bulimia nervosa (Wonderlich, 2007). When looking at women and children, body dissatisfaction and not wanting to accept their own sexuality is also prevalent in children when they grow up. They begin to correlate their feminine sexuality with severe negative consequences. Various symptoms of anorexia may appear in the victim as a way to revert to a child-like state in which they don’t have to deal with issues of sexuality and femininity that cause them emotional and psychological distress as was stated above. It was briefly mentioned above about the certain eating disorders that stem from this traumatic abuse; this includes bulimia and anorexia. When combined with other psychiatric comorbidities, particularly substance abuse, bulimia has been linked with higher frequency and more severe history of sexual abuse (Deep, 1999). Bulimic patients engage in purging behaviors, which in this case serves as a way to cleanse their bodies. For example, an individual may feel that vomiting is the only way to rid herself of the feelings and memories of the unwanted sexual encounter they experienced and to feel relief. Binge eating and purging are means for dissociation as the individual narrow his or her attention to the immediate environment and blocks out intense thoughts and feelings. The binge eating is a re-traumatization of the original abuse.
The victims of any type of abuse can end up feeling like the abuse is their fault. Many people tend to obsess over little things such as constantly questioning themselves while making simple decisions; such as picking out what to wear for that day. Very often the victim of abuse has a very low sense of self-worth as was stated above, and may also feel a lack of control over their life. In a mere attempt to gain control victims of abuse may try to severely control their weight. The victim may starve themselves of food over the feeling that they don’t deserve anything. (Postmus, 2013) They may attempt to fill a void they feel inside by eating or may look to binge as a way to mask their pain and anger. They may see food as the only way to control their surroundings through the only means that seems possible, which is by restricting their food intake. Food in this sense becomes a weapon to gain some type of control over the victim’s life as a way to forget the reality of the pain. As was stated that child abuse of all kinds; sexual, physical, and psychological can be both subtle and dramatic this represents a form of boundary violation in which separateness and integrity of the child’s physical and or psychological self-care treated with gross disregard. (Cohn, 1996).
Binging may offer a sense of comfort and a way to stuff down emotions of pain and anger. Purging may serve as a release of emotion or as a means to self-punish. In a desperate attempt to gain control over their bodies some victims will turn to food and restriction. They may feel dirty and violated, purging may serve as a temporary fix. If the abuser used food to lure their victims, or if the victim associates food with the person who violated them, they may develop a fear or even an intense phobia of food and eating. Victims of sexual abuse often suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. They may show signs of drug addiction, alcoholism, eating disorders, depression, isolation, anxiety, flashbacks and/or multiple personality syndromes. The information retrieved here was a study that was conducted regarding sexual abuse victims and eating disorders; Fifty percent of both our anorectic and bulimic patients reported a history of sexual self-care. (Breweton, 2012). Several patterns of behavior seemed related a to previous sexual assault. In one, the eating disorder was used to change the body image of the patient and therefore to provide a defense to future abuse.
Moving on to briefly talk about domestic violence more particularly sexual abuse in the relationship and its relation to the establishment of eating disorders. Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner (Office of Violence Against Women (OVW), 2012). As was mentioned above that person who has eating disorders, hold intense fear, and a lack of control over their lives. Many adolescents who are abused and who have also witnessed abuse of any kind in their homes, may turn to controlling their food and weight as a way of attempting to repress the feelings of depression and anxiety in the only way they know how to. “Disordered eating represents a form of maladaptive emotional regulation, and it is not surprising eating disorders are linked to depression and anxiety”. (Hudson, Hirpi, Pope Jr and Kessler, 2007). Those who suffer from eating disorders use their obsession with food to try to gain the control and order in their lives, which they feel has been taken away from them. When looking at binge eating; binge eating can be thought of as an act of defiance. Abused partners may experience binge eating as a way to have control in a world that is out of their reach. Binge eating can be understood as a self-harming behavior. Physical and psychological trauma is enacted on the body when large quantities of food are ingested. By eating excessively, often to the point of physical discomfort and pain, abused partners are reenacting the abuse they experienced from the abusive partner. (Cohn, 2007). Childhood sexual abuse is commonly reported by women as a cause of psychological problems which are experienced during childhood and adulthood. Sexual abuse places children at a greater risk for serious and chronic health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Sexual abuse can lead some individual to develop negative reactions to their body’s portrayal, as was mentioned previously. Sexual trauma can result in impulsive behaviors, personality disorders, PTSD. (Cohn, 1996). Post-traumatic stress disorder can result from sexual abuse, especially for children. Various studies have indicated that “52% reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of current PTSD based on their responses on a PTSD symptom scale.” (Breweton, 2008). Many victims go through triggering occurrences of the trauma, which also results in psychological distress.
In conclusion, sexual abuse and eating disorders essentially lead to other major issues of guilt, depression, low self-esteem, and social isolation. The victims of sexual abuse are dissociated from their bodies, and their only relief is to control their food intake. This is the only thing they feel as if they can control. The eating disorders become as a means of survival for them. From the trauma they have encountered with, binge eating and purging develops as a kind of coping mechanism. The sexual violence affects the victim’s perception of their body image and will affect them and their eating disorders. Many victims of sexual abuse begin to feel disassociated from their bodies. The eating disorders become as a means of survival for them. The disorder the victim holds over powers them, in the sense that the disorder convinces the sufferers that the eating disorder behaviors are healthy and required. Sexual abuse does indeed lead to traumatic consequences for the victims, especially if the victims were sexually abused as children. One’s childhood is a critical time, this is where the majority of the development takes place, and when a child experiences such trauma at such a young age, they fail to acknowledge it and never truly learn to cope with it. This also relates to sexual abuse for women as well, victims of sexual abuse begin to hate their bodies and dissociate away from them, their ultimate goal is to gain control over their lives again. Victims who have been through such traumatic experiences usually do end up developing a post-traumatic stress disorder, as the abuse distresses the victim. Particular eating disorders such as bulimia are one of the two main eating disorders; the other being binge eating disorders sexual abuse victims develop. Bulimic patients engage in purging behaviors, which they use to cleanse their bodies. Victims also will eat excessively, to mimic the physical discomfort they endured in the abuse, as this was mentioned above. Eating disorders are evidently related to sexual abuse. Victims of sexual abuse endure endless amounts of stressors in which they live with the pain and trauma for the rest of their lives, and they only find comfort in food starvation and or restriction of the food.