__My recovery through God was the result of God working through my psychiatrist and his treatment of Zinc, which for me eliminated the self image distortion, and the resulting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of my Anorexia. I've been free since about seven months ago. Let me just detour to the topic of Zinc really quick because of its remarkable and potentially profound effect on on people with Anorexia and Bulimia.
__Most anorexics and bulimics are zinc-deficient. According to the release, a five-year study showed an eighty five percent remission rate for anorexia patients given zinc supplements. "Zinc deficiency has also been detected in people with anorexia or bulimia in most, nineteen, twenty though not all, twenty one studies. In addition, some of the manifestations of zinc deficiency, such as reduced appetite, taste, and smell, are similar to symptoms observed in some cases of anorexia or bulimia." "When this problem is corrected with zinc therapy in those with anorexia, they conclude, the resulting improvement in brain functioning creates an improvement in anorexia symptoms...." "What is interesting is that such an inexpensive and widely-available mineral shows promise, by itself, in establishing better brain functioning in this group." NOTE: "It's important to check with your doctor before beginning a course of zinc therapy, however, because too much zinc can result in other problems in brain functioning (Flinn et al., #). Medical assistance will help regulate zinc at the proper level for you."
__But back to your case. There are many biological, biochemical, neurological, psychological, and psychosocial causes and contributing factors to eating disorders. The factors and causes include zinc deficiency, distorted body image as a result of brain function, abnormal neurotransmitter levels, hormone imbalances, chemical imbalances in the brain--including high levels of cortisol and low serotonin and norepinephrine levels, altered levels of dopamine, imbalances in the neurotransmitter serotonin, abnormalities in the structure or activity of the hypothalamus, levated opioid levels and malfunction of the I-function, anxiety disorders, agitation from starvation, biological inheritance, tendency to please others and a low ability to assert one's own needs; a need to reduce unsettling feelings of anxiety, depression and low self-confidence; perfectionism, problems with impulse control, the ability to distinguish between hunger, satisfaction and other feelings, peer pressure, parents who are overweight and have an exaggerated interest in body shape, family demands and insecure family circumstances, family attitudes, strict and cold parental attitude and luck of showing love to children from parents, physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse/trauma, perfectionism and overachievement, an unnatural slim ideal, social attitudes towards body image and losing weight, the influence of the media creating a need for thinness, lack of self esteem, feelings of worthlessness, depression, lack of acceptance of self and body shape, fears of weight gain, life events/changes, need for control, feelings of helplessness, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. and an effort to resolve emotional problems.
__Go the list^ that I made (after extensive research on it) in this first page of this forum for more information on each of those things and some treatment possibilities that I came across while researching.
__I recommend you see a professional, preferably a psychiatrist (I speak from experience...) about this. Check off things on that list that you think might be factors or causes and give it to your psychiatrist. You could find a treatment that works for you--one that restores and treats the possible biochemical imbalances, abnormalities, and/or deficiencies in your brain. There are also good and effective treatments out there for anxiety and depression--natural as well as medicinal. For a list of fifteen tips for people with depression that I put together (including some fantastic natural remedies) as a result of the research/info/articles I've collected on depression and Bipolar disorder for my BP support group at church, PM/email me. Also, a good Christian councellor can make such a big difference in your life, I really recommend it.
__I believe that God can work through doctors, medicines and natural treatments. I also have been effectively treated for my Bipolar Disorder, which i've had at least since I was fifteen (i'm twenty one now), I was diagnosed a year to a year and a half ago. I believe with all of my heart that some day I will be well from everything--the mental and physical health issues I've dealt with.
__And I know also, from my own experience, and from my knowledge of the scriptures and observance of other people's lives, that God uses the suffering that is a result of this broken world to do things in and through us. He takes the broken pieces of glass in our lives and puts it together to make something beautiful and whole.
__Paul considered his suffering a gift from God. I am not the only one who has thanked God for the trials and pain I've been through--because of what it has done in my life, in my relationship with God, and in others lives through me. For quotes from people who felt the same way, such as Corrie Ten Boom, and Joni Erickson, and understanding about what suffering does, and for comfort during it (a bunch of scripture verses of God's comfort to you) email/PM me for a pretty slideshow I made.
__I also know that God heals through truth. He is working in my own life, helping me learn to take the misbeliefs I tell myself, the things that aren't true, and replace them with His truth, using the method--based on the book Telling Yourself The Truth (by William Backus and Marie Chapian--of
1) locating my misbeliefs
2) removing them, arguing against them ("I am not ....") and
3) replace misbeliefs with the truth.
This is based on the idea, as the book says, that our thoughts determine our emotions. The way you think influences the way you feel. Changing misbeliefs results in changing feelings like fear and depression. (The subtitle of the book is "Find Your Way Out Of Depression, Anxiety, Fear, Anger,and Other Common Problems By Applying the Principles of Misbelief Therapy") "Once we yank out the irrationalaties and lies from our thoughts and replace them with truth, we can lead satisfying, rich and fulfilling emotional lives.".
__"Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."~Jesus
__But the reason I was saying that: If your eating disorder is caused by or contributed to by misbeliefs you have about yourself, your beauty, your ability to be loved, your worth, and/or by lack of acceptence of yourself and your body, go the thread titled "made for His love; He desires your heart; gorgeous; marvelous; cherished; special; desired; pursued" on the first page of this forum. It's an answer to that as well as the need for love, feeling of emptiness, loneliness, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or feeling of being unloved in people with eating disorders. Even the need for meaning and purpose in your life.
__In speaking of addictions in her book Praying God's Word: Breaking Free From Spiritual Strongholds, Joyce Meyer says:
"No matter whether your addictions are to substances or behavior, God can set you free. What he requires from you is time, trust, and cooperation. The immense power of an addiction is rarely broken in a day. You see God has as much to teach us as he has to show us. He could show us his power by instantaneously setting us free from all desire for our stronghold. Often, however, God teaches us the process to walk with him and depend on him daily. Few things beyond our salvation are 'once and for all.' If he delivered us instantaneously, we would see His greatness once, but we would soon forget...and we'd risk going back. On the other hand, if God teaches us victory in Christ day by day, we live in constant awareness of his greatness and His sufficiency. Hard lessons are often long-lasting lessons. Never forget that God is far more interested in our getting to know the Deliverer than simply being delivered."
Love and care,
Amy
They are hard to recover from no matter how long you've had one.
