The Link You Need To Consider – Dating Abuse And Eating Disorders

No one that I’ve found has the statistics, but the connections are real. Young men and women who are in abusive romantic relationships are more likely to have disordered eating.

Why? What’s the connection? Do people with eating disorders simply make bad choices all the time? Not at all.

At the website, www.Loveisrespect.org, a powerful article explains the link. First, a person becomes abusive in a relationship to have power and control over their partner. Power and control impacts those who are abused in a relationship by taking away their rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, as the relationship continues, the abusive partner tends to increase the amount of power and control over the other person. Eventually, one person has control over virtually all aspects of the other person’s life.

Besides feeling out of control, a person being abused often feels depressed, angry, lonely, and have low self-esteem. These effects of power and control can lead the person being abused to develop an eating disorder. An eating disorder is developed by the victim to try to regain some of the control they are losing because of their relationship.

Of course, those feelings of helplessness are not the only cause of eating disorders. The societal pressure to be thin or other mental health issues are also related to eating disorders.
If you, or someone you know is in an unhealthy or unsafe dating relationship, or to find out how to prevent such a relationship, go to Love is Respect to find out more.