Expert: Joanna Lhulier, Psy.D. - 6/26/2008

Question
Recently i have started going to therapy to try and get past a recent trauma in my life. Prior to going to therapy I was boxing up my emotions and pouring myself into work, now I am experiencing my emotions, pouring myself into work and am having serious issues with eating. I hardly eat anything all day, have no appetite, but am happy with the fact that it blocks out any emotions that I am feeling. Or if I do eat, it is now a long process of counting calories and not eating anything "bad" (no carbs, whites) I am worried that I have developed a serious issue as I am really having a hard time changing my behaviors and my friends and family have become concerned over my weight loss. I'm 5'10 now 131 pounds, in January when the trauma happened I weighed 165 pounds. Considering that I have never had any weight or ED issues prior in my life, how do I get through this? My therapist recommended medication today and it really upset me, am I really in trouble or will this phase pass when i've delt with the trauma? Am I safe to just ignore this reaction to therapy?

Answer
Hi Lori-
I am sorry to hear about your trauma.  It is not uncommon for people to resort to extreme measures around food when trying to recover from a trauma.  I wish I could give you specific answers about how things will go for you, but it really depends on you and your recovery process.  

I think what is happening is that your feelings are overwhelming you, making you feel out of control.  In order to regain some sense of control you are restricting food intake.  This control helps you feel more sane.  Another benefit to not eating enough is that your mind and body are forced to focus on the present danger of not getting enough nutrition rather than trying to recover from the past danger (the trauma).

You are in a serious situation and you do need help.  Medication is not really something that you need to fear, it might help you and it is more than likely that you will only need the medicine for a relatively short period of time while you get through the current crisis.

Your last question puzzled me.  "Am I safe to just ignore this reaction to therapy?"  I am not sure your weight loss is actually a reaction to therapy.  It is more likely a reaction to you dealing with some feelings that are related to the trauma.  I do not think you should ignore your reaction.  I think you need to continue to talk about it and try to understand it.  If you need to take things more slowly than do that, but please do not judge yourself for what is happening to you.

Let me know if you have further thoughts/questions.  I wish you the best of luck.  Take Care,
Dr. Lhulier