Years ago I spent time in an airport waiting area with a mom and her young son with autism. The silent young man, she said with both chagrin and bravado, lives on a diet of fresh MacDonald's french fries, milk shakes, and megavitamins. At the time I appreciated both her honesty and her predicament, though I think I probably had some smug disapproval going at the same time. These were his boundaries, and this mom was not catering to whims, she was loving him and taking care of him from where he was. I did not know that some day I would understand this mom's nurturing in a very personal way, and that I would continue to wish that I could go back and really hear her and make sure she felt supported and understood, if only from a stranger. When you spend time in the ED world you cannot help but notice how often you see certain traits in patients, many former patients, and often in family members. Things like difficulty with 'set shifting,' a blinding focus on detail, and difficulties with correctly interpreting the emotions of others. There is a lot of talk now about a connection between autism and anorexia. My first question, of course, was whether these autistic traits were present before anorexia struck, and whether these traits offered new directions for psychological interventions, and whether these traits were affected by malnourishment.
So if these results, Emotional Theory of Mind and Emotional Awareness, stand the test of further research and many of the autistic traits that predispose and maintain the disorder turn out to be "a factor of starvation" this begs the question: will this open a new avenue to understanding autism itself? Could autism - often associated with food aversions and sensory issues - be better treated nutritionally? That is certainly something many parents believe, and they are the ones living both alongside and observing their children.
The paper mentioned above also adds to what should be by now sufficient evidence that "food is medicine" and needs to be the first-line, non-optional, and urgent first step in eating disorder treatment. It pains me to know that it is still 'controversial' to say that ED symptoms are driven by malnourishment, and that most parents are not told this at first diagnosis.
Again, I think we will learn a great deal about eating disorders by looking at other fields, and the reverse.
When you spend time in the ED world you cannot help but notice how often you see certain traits in patients, many former patients, and often in family members. Things like difficulty with 'set shifting,' a blinding focus on detail, and difficulties with correctly interpreting the emotions of others. There is a lot of talk now about a connection between autism and anorexia. My first question, of course, was whether these autistic traits were present before anorexia struck, and whether these traits offered new directions for psychological interventions, and whether these traits were affected by malnourishment.
So if these results, Emotional Theory of Mind and Emotional Awareness, stand the test of further research and many of the autistic traits that predispose and maintain the disorder turn out to be "a factor of starvation" this begs the question: will this open a new avenue to understanding autism itself? Could autism - often associated with food aversions and sensory issues - be better treated nutritionally? That is certainly something many parents believe, and they are the ones living both alongside and observing their children.
The paper mentioned above also adds to what should be by now sufficient evidence that "food is medicine" and needs to be the first-line, non-optional, and urgent first step in eating disorder treatment. It pains me to know that it is still 'controversial' to say that ED symptoms are driven by malnourishment, and that most parents are not told this at first diagnosis.
Again, I think we will learn a great deal about eating disorders by looking at other fields, and the reverse.