Comments on: Anorexia as the “Female Asperger’s”

By: Betty

Betty — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:59:35 +0000

I have Asperger’s and my cousin suffered from anorexia and bulimia, so maybe there’s is a genetic predisposition. Coincidentally I also have OCD, am a calorie counter, and forget to eat, but not purposely so, I just can’t tell when I’m hungry. I can only pick it up, ie hunger, when I have a severe headache, get a hypoglycemic seizure, or when I get dizzy and feel very weak. The other thing that I do have is an ideal body image, and weight, whenever I’m off this ideal body image/weight, I feel very uncomfortable. However, I should also mention that being obese is awkward for me, I already have issues with my balance, and clumsiness, and the added weight, makes it even more difficult to manage some of this. Not to mention the fact, that at least for me, being fat tends to hurt, I can feel the fat cells, and it just feels like too warm for my body. I know that sounds weird, but you can really feel all that adipose tissue, and it hurts, it’s too warm compared to the rest of your bodily tissue. Maybe we feel stuff like this cause our bodies are overly sensitive, to outside and inner stimuli, but like our sense of smell, touch, vision, and perception, our bodies are very very sensitive to small changes.

By: meep

meep — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:00:46 +0000

Is is possible that some of this extra weight is coming from erratic eating? I find it likely that some autistics stop eating or eat less at certain times because of sensory issues or initiation problems, in effect slowing down their metabolisms. Then when they are able to eat normally, they might gain weight.

By: Regan

Regan — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:36:18 +0000

Kind of off-topic to autism, but possibly relevant to insurance, eating disorders, and the talking points of mental v. biological.

NJ lawsuit turning on information posted to the web.
MySpace, Facebook Pages Called Key to Dispute Over Insurance Coverage for Eating Disorders
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1201779829458

By: Aidoann

Aidoann — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:11:20 +0000

Unfortunately, it seems like the society wants to blame the parents for everything now-a-days.
What about the autistic people who are overweight? It seems like the majority of autistic people are on the heavier side (anywhere from a couple pounds above average to obese), not under-weight.
Personally, don’t eat a lot except when my folks are around to remind me to eat. A lot of that has to do with sensory issues, I think, because I can eat when the room isn’t too loud or the food isn’t too sweet, but I can’t stand eating in a crowded room or using metal utensils (hooray for wooden chopsticks!). This makes eating at restuaraunts difficult sometimes.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:27:01 +0000

Perhaps it would be helpful to think not so much about the eating behaviors and difficulties with them in anorexia and eating disorder, but why they occur. ANRED suggests genetics, a link between stress and over-eating, brain “maturation/impairment” as possible causes.

Hope your daughter is ok, Regan.

Another way in which I’ve noted connections of a sort between eating disorders and autism is precisely the issue of mother blame.

By: Regan

Regan — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:55:09 +0000

Well, not to upset the apple cart, I don’t think that this is conclusive, but I had anorexia and bulimia when in HS and college, and one of my children does now. The child officially diagnosed with an ASD does not have an ED, and neither eats too much nor too little–she self-regulates very well at this time. The child with anorexia has not been officially diagnosed with Asperger’s but it was strongly suggested earlier in her life; she herself rejected the possibility and I respected her wishes.

In ED as well as ASD I have no doubt that there are common AND highly individual experiences. I can say that compared to ASD in our family that anorexia is more difficult and similar–complicated by rigid distorted thinking, some compulsive behavior and sensory disturbances. One obvious contribution is lack of nutrition which we have to work very hard to overcome and is definitely correlated with cognitive function, esp. until a minimum BMI has been met. There is also a definite environmental contribution in our case (I have a bone to pick with teen magazines,TV and the current plethora of no-cal foods) as well as some unexpected contributions in re: particular types of counseling. I have some insight because of my experiences, but there are distinct differences because my daughter and I are in different circumstances.

In essence this sprung out of the blue for our former athlete daughter, who two summers ago got the ball rolling with the desire to take off a “couple pounds” and “a few extra laps”, leading to exercise-induced anorexia and increasing restriction of food. But prior to that she had tendencies to perfectionism, and rigidity…now exagerated in the ED.

If you haven’t gone through this personally or haven’t had a family member go through this, I would reserve judgement in the opposite direction. I have had bipolar, schizophrenic, autistic relatives. If there is an identifiable genetic trigger or underlying brain disorder, I would like to know more about it. Certainly better treatment options than the “talking therapies” blaming family members, prescribing anti-psychotics (a disaster), or “giving control of the menu to the person with the ED” (for us another disaster) would be welcome. We currently are using Maudsley and refeeding.

By: TheASMan

TheASMan — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:06:58 +0000

As for the observation about not seeing anorexia in other women in the family with it, doesnt really hold much water per se. It is easy to say. I hear this all the time with autism. Unsupported observation is neither science nor a fact.

I have seen many autistics overweight. Usually they are living in an environment that reminds them of the time to eat and I am sure given our culture of fatty food and over sized portions, to eat plenty.

By: laurentius-rex

laurentius-rex — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:34:09 +0000

The problem is that people believe that academics observe a scientific paradigm, they do not.

Who is the royal we, that this “treasure” of pyschiatry speaks, without validating one jot her use of convention within the English language, unaware of the cultural and social precedents of her own language, never mind the neurological substrates that gave origin to her own utterance.

Tis all like Searles Chinese room, the academic being but a mechanism which understands not why it does what it does

By: Kev

Kev — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:23:46 +0000

This is very interesting. I can see why its an attractive hypothesis. Lets hope the science makes things clearer.

By: Laura Collins

Laura Collins — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:02:49 +0000

The environment/gene question is often misunderstood in eating disorders, as it used to be more often with autism. The reason it matters, and the reason people like me keep bringing up the genetic side of things is that parents are still being blamed for their actions and omissions as if they “caused” the eating disorder. Patients are still held responsible for their illness and told to “get control” of the symptoms through force of will.

The intersections between autism spectrum and EDs, as well as other brain-based conditions, are many. I really believe that better understanding of the mechanisms of one will lead to better understanding of the others.

But as of now, it is still hard to get people off the “blame the victim” and “blame mommy” and get on with really helping people. The NIMH and most modern researchers understand EDs are brain disorders, but too much of the rest of the world resists this.