It’s well known that many people attempt dieting at some point, often many points, throughout their lives.
Knowing this an interesting question arises “if dieting is one of the major risk factors for the development of eating disorders, why then do only a few people who diet, relatively speaking, go on to develop the illness anorexia nervosa (anorexia nervosa is estimated to affect 0.9–4% of women and 0.3% of men1-3)?”
Why don’t 100% of people who diet develop an eating disorder?…
There is one important reason which I’ve covered in an earlier post and I will link it below, but just quickly dieting and any other circumstances that initiate a calorie deficit for a period of time (including trauma, abuse, neglect, having your wisdom teeth out…) increases your risk of developing an eating disorder but alone it doesn’t “cause” an eating disorder.
In order for that calorie deficit (whether it be a result of intentional dieting/weight loss or other) to go on to become an eating disorder there is another key component necessary. Genetics.
I’ve covered the genetics which predispose someone to developing anorexia nervosa in an earlier blog post so if you’re interested in this topic, please have a read of the blog “Anorexia Nervosa Is Genetic; Now What?”
In this blog I’m going to briefly describe 5 personality traits that have been identified as common amongst people living with or recovered from anorexia nervosa and therefore thought to increase the likelihood of their developing anorexia nervosa.
Why would I take the time to do this? Because I think this is a super important information!
Because when I read these scientific papers inside my mind, I feel myself exclaiming “yes, yes, yes” because those words are describing my experience when I lived with anorexia nervosa, in a way I did not have words to describe while I was stuck in the midst of it.
I can’t help but wonder if I’d had this information earlier it would have made all the difference because had I had this information I’m about to share with you, I’d have had a means of addressing some of the underlying issues that when changed go on to make much of the other behavioural stuff we’re often told to focus on in recovery (for example “triggers” and “fear foods”) obsolete.
If you, or someone you care about, are living with an eating disorder and you identify with any of the personality traits in this post or you can see variations of these within them I hope this post gives you hope.
More than that I hope it gives you direction and a plan or at the very least insight and guidance into making a decision from here with what you’d like to do with this information.
Because there is plenty of evidence that things we think of as rock-solid personality “traits” including the below 5 are highly malleable. Meaning that if you experience any of these it does not mean that you have to experience them for the rest of your life.
Provided with the right circumstances your brain is geared for fast learning and enjoyable change.
That’s where things become interesting first, then freeing and if you get far enough ultimately fun.
5 personality traits people with anorexia nervosa are known to experience are…
- Perfectionism
I’ve touched on “perfectionism in last week’s blog (In High School I Got Straight A’s and Anorexia; The Link Between Perfectionism and Anorexia Nervosa). Therefore, in the remainder of this blog we’re going to explore some of the other personality traits thought to increase the risk of someone’s developing anorexia nervosa.
I simply thought it valuable to include perfectionism here as it truly is a key feature of the psychopathology of anorexia nervosa and no list describing the features of anorexia nervosa would be complete without it.
Briefly, the experience of perfectionism is that of having an exceptionally high set of self-imposed standards, placing your self-worth on the line depending on achievement and an inability to cope with personal mistakes.
2. Harm Avoidance
Harm avoidance is an interesting one. It is described as a trait characterised by worry, pessimistic thinking, shyness, self-doubt and low levels of novelty/new experience seeking.
Do you find yourself worrying excessively or more than others about what people think of you?
Do you doubt yourself more than objective measures indicate you should?
Do you find it hard to strike up a conversation with new people or even just be seen?
Do you find you mull over things inside your head long after they have passed?
If you’re answering yes after yes after yes to these questions you may be experiencing harm avoidance.
Harm avoidance is not a trait we commonly hear about (unlike perfectionism) but it’s a common trait amongst people living with anorexia nervosa. It can even be one of the traits that gets in the way of doing the process of recovery because the desire to avoid stuffing up, worry over getting it wrong and an inability to tolerate or even imagine doing things differently make recovery hard given that doing things differently is the whole premise of recovery.
3. Persistence
I often hear this personality trait described as stubbornness or singlemindedness but really, it’s determination which when put like that doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, right? The issue is that in anorexia nervosa it’s directed towards all the wrong things with an inability to “give up” or “let go” which are absolutely necessary to making a full recovery.
On the other side of recovery persistence at the right things can take you far and it’s actually an amazingly useful personality trait to have.
Persistence at the wrong thing will also take you far, just in the wrong direction.
4. Low Levels of Self-Directedness
I cannot emphasize enough the degree to which these 5 words “low levels of self-directedness” ruled my life.
When I lived with anorexia, I had no connection with myself. I was always looking to the outside world for answers. It got to the point where making any decision was difficult right down to inconsequential decisions. I can’t even remember what they all were now and it would be a bore to list them.
This is one of the traits that has had the longest-term effect on my life after anorexia and if I’m honest the one that bears the greatest regret because it greatly impacted the choices I made when I was younger and many of the choices we make when we’re younger direct our futures to varying degrees.
I wish I’d learned and developed this one far earlier and it’s definitely an area I’d encourage you to develop if you find it excruciating to make decisions, second guess or doubt yourself, have a low to no sense of self, low sense of autonomy over your life or simply find it difficult (impossible) to conceptualise your future.
You will never be truly congruent and happy within yourself until your choices are coming from you and your choices can only come from you when you know you.
5. Rigidity
An interesting thing about “rigidity” is that you don’t always know you’re doing it when you’re doing it.
Which is true of all these traits I’ve described within this post. When they’re your norm you’re often not thinking “wow, that was rigid of me.” You’re more likely making up reasons to justify what you’re doing because our conscious mind likes to have reasons for why we’re doing what we’re doing.
Looking back, I was about as rigid as they come.
I may not have always shown it or expressed it, but it hurt me inside when things didn’t go to plan, plans changed or I had to do things out of my routine.
I may even have thought of myself as spontaneous because I valued flexibility and spontaneity but in real life I was the antithesis of flexible.
One quick real-world example that comes to mind when I was sick is that I’d have to have certain things at certain meals and at certain times otherwise I simply wouldn’t eat that meal. Back then that was a normal and valid reason to me to not eat. That’s not normal to me now.
That’s rigid.
That’s pathologically rigid.
The Most Important Take Home and Use Part
What does this all mean?
First, let’s’ quickly get clear on what it doesn’t mean and that is that if you recognise you experience all or some of these “personality traits” you are doomed to a lifetime living with an eating disorder.
It doesn’t mean that.
Many people have fully recovered from eating disorders and report that they still identify as having these personality traits the difference is they experience them to a lesser, more flexible degree and are able to direct them towards more useful tasks.
What it does mean and why I share this information is because it provides straightforward guidance of 5 solid areas to address and focus your treatment and recovery energy and efforts for maximum outcome. And let me tell you when you are living with an eating disorder, you’re desperate for some solid and true guidance on what to do.
These personality traits provide that.
If you identify with any of the descriptions of the above personality traits (perfectionism, harm avoidance, persistence, low levels of self-directedness and/or rigidity) then use this information. This is your opportunity to learn how to improve these aspects of your psychology!
Because maybe we’re born with predispositions towards certain personality traits and illnesses and maybe things happen in life which steer us even more in that direction and maybe there’s a bunch of stuff we have no control over (there definitely is) and I never want to make it seem like changing any of these things are easy (because it’s not) I’m not even saying it is fair that you have to do this work when maybe others got it far easier than you. I’m not saying that it will work. What I am saying is it’s worth trying.
I want you to at least give yourself a chance at failing because that is the only means by which success becomes a possibility.
It’s amazing guidance to know these personality traits are areas you can work on and will likely improve your chance of recovering and if nothing else increase your quality of life.
It’s certainly guidance I wish was better known and better used because for all we don’t know about eating disorders, there are many things we do know.
They’re not a complete mystery.
Would you consider using this information?
With my whole heart I hope you found this information useful and inspiring.
Become Great. Live Great.
Bonnie.
Reference
- Keski-Rahkonen, A. & Mustelin, L. Epidemiology of eating disorders in Europe: prevalence, incidence, comorbidity, course, consequences, and risk factors. Opin. Psychiatry29, 340–345 (2016).
- Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G. & Kessler, R. C. The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Psychiatry61, 348–358 (2007).
- Micali, N. et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of eating disorders amongst women in mid-life: a population-based study of diagnoses and risk factors. BMC Med.15, 12 (2017)
