Professionals are formal: anorexia , bulimia and other eating disorders respond to the same issues as addictions . "Extended fasting leads to the same feelings of euphoria, intellectual performance or fatigue resistance as those triggered by amphetamines," explains Professor Vincent Dodin, an associate of psychiatry at the Catholic University of Lille.

In her latest book "Anorexia, bulimia, en faim de conte" (Declée de Brouwer), the psychiatrist gives us fifteen years of experience and an observation: the link between these disorders and a psychological terrain "dominated by a feeling of insecurity interior. "

Eating disorders: a reaction to recent trauma

Thus, "44% of anorexics suffered trauma (sexual assault, rape, bullying school ...) in the 2 years preceding the episode of the disorder," says Vincent Dodin, also head of psychiatric service at Saint Vincent Hospital Paul in Lille. The eating disorder allows them to "anesthetize" both physically, emotionally and psychologically, in the same way as drugs or alcohol, the risky and self-aggressive behaviors (auto-mutilations) present in other people suffering from post-traumatic syndromes . Hence the importance of therapeutic support following these accidents of life.

Other causes: an overprotective family ...

Some overprotective families may promote the development of eating disorders in children as they move into adolescence or adulthood. "Parents have a hard time trusting their daughter's life potential and looking for zero risk for her. This last struggles to become autonomous, and develops an anxiety of separation ", Vincent Dodin describes. For the psychiatrist, we live in a time when we are generally more afraid for our children than previous generations. Some parents, however, develop excessive anxiety.

Illustration: one of the anorexic patients of the practitioner, a couple of friends had lost his baby a few months before the birth of their own daughter. "The child very quickly perceived the fears of his parents and developed a deep anxiety, ended in adolescence by anorexia nervosa," shares the psychiatrist. Some couples freeze the parental relationship at the "early childhood" stage. The girl is struggling to grow up and emancipate herself. Hence the frequency of mental anorexia between 12 and 20 years old, teenage girls who strive to erase any sign of femininity of their body.

... being taken hostage in parental conflicts

Family relationships clouded by conflict between parents can generate a lot of emotional insecurity in a person, especially when the child becomes an issue. "In a society where one can have several conjugal lives during a lifetime, the bond of parentage sometimes becomes, for some parents, safer than the conjugal bond," says Vincent Dodin. This strong and exclusive parent-child bond then traps the child in a "conflict of loyalty". Holding one parent may mean spreading the other. The child finds himself in a position that does not correspond to his rightful place. He can become the confidant, the one who must take sides, in a situation of impossible choice. These painful situations promote eating disorders.

Family secrets

Family secrets suffered by parents sometimes impact girls, unconsciously. This is the story of this great father, loving, present and attentive to his daughter. Regularly, this positive and constructive relationship is disturbed by empty passages, when the TV news reports events related to the sexual abuse of children. The father then closes like an oyster, becomes rejecting, verbally abusive towards his relatives. "During the therapy, we gradually realized that he had been touched by a grandfather, who had also abused his aunts. Event that had ruled the omerta for two generations, "says Vincent Dodin. The tacit family shame surrounding this incestuous grandfather had thus been transmitted, insecure this little girl to anorexia.

Shameful or psychiatric diseases, war situations, assassinations and other ghosts haunt the families and reach some children, who, by a sort of sixth sense, perceive the torments of the parents.

TCA: therapeutic management in three stages

These insecure teenagers have very little confidence in themselves, fear the judgment of others, are perfectionists. In a society that promotes performance and thinness , controlling their weight by resisting food enhances them. They feel that they are doing something that is difficult for others to do. The eating disorder channels their insecurity and proves useful for a while. The satisfaction lasts a few months, before the body remembers them.

Hypoglycemic discomfort of the anorexic, or pain and blood in vomiting of bulimia, which damages its esophagus. The body is tired. The entourage worries and sounds the alarm. "When a TCA victim finally agrees to seek treatment, it takes months, sometimes years, for older stories to subside, but the three-step treatment has been proven," said Professor Dodin.

First, the therapy aims to protect the body with medical care and nutritional rehabilitation. Segundo, comes the therapeutic part, in individual but also in group, and in family. Finally, the patient must work on her perception of the body: adapted physical activity, psychomotricity, massage , body wrap, beauty care ... It is about finding pleasure and self-esteem. Latest progress in this area: the work on the body image with avatars in virtual reality.