resources - Resources for Patients
Mind-Body Integrated Solutions for Eating Disorders
binge eating, bulimia, anorexia, over-eating and obesity
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is known to regulate the appetite and therefore many people seek acupuncture for the treatment of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and obesity. In addition acupuncture is known to affect bowel function and so those with associated symptoms such as bloating and indigestion also look to acupuncture treatment.
However, eating disorders are rarely connected with disorders of appetite, or bowel problems, or disorders in metabolism, or the nervous system. And although acupuncture can help to regulate the appetite in the short term, for a long term solution our sub-conscious mind will need to be engaged with. This is why, in treating eating disorders, acupuncture is often not the main therapeutic intervention.
There are some cases, however, when it may be very appropriate to bring our body and mind into balance, to nourish our body or to clear a stuck energetic state. For this, and to ensure the smooth functioning of our gastro-intestinal tract, acupuncture can be very helpful.
Acupuncture will also help to create a calm state of mind and to reduce anxiety so that change can happen more easily. I often think that acupuncture is a bit like pressing the re-set button for our body and mind, that it helps to regulate the system so that all parts quietly work together at their own rhythm. Sometimes it is just this quietude that is most needed especially when all else feels in turmoil.
NLP
Many people, who over-eat, binge-eat or refuse to eat, trigger an automatic psycho-neurological process within while they engage with food. Thoughts can become disordered or obsessive, one can experience uncomfortable feelings in the pit of one’s stomach, there may be up-rushing feelings, or feelings of over-whelm or anger, to name just a few associated symptoms. Eating may be associated with emotional anxiety or distress, physical pain or tummy distension, or a number of other abnormal physical or emotional reactions to a normal everyday event. There may be many triggers which set off this reaction but the end result is a disturbing relationship with food.
Creating new brain patterns in relation to food and eating can be done, using Neuro-linguistic Programming, more simply than you might think. It does not require drugs, or surgery, or other invasive techniques. NLP opens up communication channels so that we can engage with that part of our inner self that is in control of our physical and psychological reaction to food.
Over-eating
If you are an over-eater you might say that you enjoy your food. But do you enjoy the taste of each morsel? Do you relish the smell? Do you stop to appreciate the look of food on your plate? What about the feelings during and after you eat? Do you enjoy those feelings too, the feeling of satiated hunger? Do you feel energised and nourished by the food that you eat?
Anorexia
Not eating, for any reason, for any prolonged length of time (say a few days) is termed anorexia by the medical profession even if it is a secondary symptom to something else, for example a prolonged fever. It is not always associated with a distorted self-image. And you could be of any age. Maybe there are many things that you cannot eat because of your beliefs, your morals, or because of health concerns. You may even have an unpleasant physical response, such as difficulty in swallowing (dsyphagia,) nausea or intestinal pain.
What ever the reason is, if you are eating less food than you need for a prolonged period of time then you have an eating problem. There may be numerous reasons but to preserve organ function and general health, such as bone density, hormone regulation, and a calm nervous system - one that is not running on adrenalin, then something needs to change in how you ‘do food.’
You eat every day to keep alive! What would it be like if you could entirely change your relationship to food, to eating, and fundamentally to yourself? What difference would it make to your life if you could change that one event for each and every day for the rest of your life?
Whether you feel completely in control, or out of control, NLP offers a way to fundamentally change for the better.
Of course, it is up to you when and if you do want that change. But just remember, there are more parts to you than the one that is currently dominating your thoughts about food. Even if you don’t want to change right now, give a little space to that part of you that wants to be heard and wants simply to be nurtured.
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