Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders

Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders is the first book to fully explore the complex relationship between sexual abuse and the eating disorders. The book encom­passes the compelling writings of 26 specialists who thoughtfully consider the numerous questions surrounding this controversial topic: Why would early trauma influence eating behavior? What is the association between eating disorders and sexual abuse? What impact does the controversy surrounding false memory have on the thinking about this association? Working from the premise that children exposed to inescapable stress throughout childhood will be at risk for compulsivity and reenactment of trauma by self-abuse syndromes, this collection provides provocative answers to these and many other questions. Taken as a whole, this book provides an important global view of the topic. Chapters focus attention on the prevalence of sexual abuse among individuals with eating disorders; how a history of sexual violence can serve as a predictor of subsequent food-related syndromes; trauma-based theory, dissociation, abreactive, and ego-states therapy; and a practical and theoretical exploration of the sexual self of an eating-disordered person. New perspectives on body image, feminist approaches to treatment, false memory, and the sexual self, as well as a first-person narrative that powerfully links the two phenomena, round out the discussion. Finally, a dialogue about the controversies surrounding sexual abuse and eating disorders and an examination of false memory syndrome constitute the fitting finale for this stimulating presentation.

Mark F. Schwartz, Sc.D., is Clinical Co-Director, Masters and Johnson Trauma, Dissociative Disorders and Sexual Compulsivity Programs, St. Louis, MO. Leigh Cohn, M.A.T., is Executive Editor of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. He lectures extensively on eating disorders and is the author of numerous books.