I have read that eating disorders are somehow linked to expressing anger defiance and despair towards the physical body. That when women become enraged by unfair and unobtainable perfection and hypocritical views of female sexuality and desire, they seek revenge on the body, a body that is ironically viewed as the most important part of self. This is then linked to control and taking back control by railing against an obscene cultural exploitation.

I wonder if Type 1 diabetics have a greater tendency to develop such distorted relationhips with thier bodies in that they have been in a sense waging a constant battle with thier bodies just to survive. I have a female client who has type 1 diabetis and she often laments "I'm just so tired of having to always cater to my body." She also has purposefully skipped insulin shots and her explanation for this speaks to the idea of winning back control over her body by getting what she wants ( thiness) vs. what her body wants ( balance). She claims that she doesn't really want to harm herself but that her body is so out of control that she sometimes stops caring what she does to it. She doesn't feel fully in control of her condition and copes with this by taking control over her weight.

Thanks, Carlin, for this. It is a new dynamic to me, and one well worth exploring, both from its social and clinical aspects. Your succinct presentation makes the topic even more stark in its immediacy. Blessings, Michael

I often feel split in two: Me and my body. We are siamese twins, one never able to enjoy life without the other, unhappy, nagging, complaining. It´s unbearable...and inescapable.

If I do not have my body under an iron grip, it has me by the same grip. Neither of us ever wins, we just keep loosing.

Feast and famon, no middle ground, and no rest.

Islalane