At this moment, she has a blackout. Her mind shuts off.
As participants of our sessions say, Zina meets Mr. Eating Frenzy! Of course, together they could eat all eight hamburgers! ☺ If eight hamburgers are too much for her, then, when devouring the sixth hamburger and feeling it getting caught in her throat, Zina starts to curse herself.
– Silly idiot.
– Yes, I believe you! I think you are honest. You speak from your heart! What else did you say?
– Why have I eaten so much?
– You sound too intelligent: “Why have I eaten so much?”
Imagine a forty-year-old person who has just devoured eight hamburgers. She is alone in the kitchen. She has just ruined his diet. No doubt, the woman would use some bad words. One of participants from another group assumed: “Well, she said to herself: “Oh, what a spineless piggy I am!”
– Do you believe it? Do you think Zina would say this?
– Dummy, idiot!
– What other names would she call herself in such a case? Perhaps some domestic animals?
– Pig!
– Pig. Yes, it’s possible. Maybe some horned animal then?
– Cow.
– Cow!
– ☺
– All the other words she uses should be bleeped…
– ☺
– …cause I’m sure she kicked herself to the fullest. What does she feel? What emotions is she experiencing?
– She feels guilty.
– Precisely. Of course, she feels guilty. Is she hurt?
– She suffered for so long…
– Moment of weakness – and she ruined everything. ☺
– Yes! Is she angry?
– Yes.
– So, what does she feel finally?
– She feels sorry for herself.
– Of course. Self-pity. Zina knows how to comfort herself. Some sweets will help a lot! No, Galina, hamburger won’t work in this case. It’s hard to comfort yourself with a hamburger.
– ☺
– She raises her hand like this… and throws it down!
– Fine!
– Screw it!
– Life is ruined, all labor is for nothing. Everything is rotten. Zina opens fridge, buffet… As you remember, she bought lots of food recently, so her food reserves are huge! Zina eats one treat after another, comforting herself, searching for relief from negative emotions. Actually, she was going to eat some sweets.
– ☺
– Instead, she ate up… Much more than she planned. Reflexively. Sweets and chocolates jump into her mouth one after another! Zina opens her mouth, and they jump into it – hop-hop! The next moment she sits in her chair, cursing herself: “How could you…” She calls herself bad names: “Idiot, pig, cow, dummy…” She is angry and offended. And she blames herself again! It’s late evening, almost night. Her family is sleeping, and Zina is “washing dishes” in her “favorite” room.
– ☺
– Then she can’t eat anymore. Her stomach is full. Of course, she decides that…
– Again.
– It’s time to lose weight. ☺
– It’s time to lose weight.
– ☺
– Zina goes to her bedroom, thinking that all she needs for success is another diet, cause this one was “improper”. Besides, she feels guilty. She failed the diet! Zina blames herself. Therefore, she has to wash the guilt away. With blood or something! Zina feels that she has to be punished! She has to do something.
Do you have any ideas? What can wash the guilt away? What should she get?
– Punishment!
– Hunger!
– Yes, as an option!
Hunger. Long-time starvation, perhaps, even without drinking water. Dry starving, as they call it. I can’t believe that some people keep a diet without drinking any water.
Jogging!
“Well, what else can I do to myself?” Enema!
“Acupuncture, and forced vomiting, then I’ll join an equestrian club as a horse. Oh, I’ll make myself lose weight at any price!”
– Do you think we can help her?
– Yes, we can.
– Sketch the following diagram, please.
This is a classic pattern of an eating disorder.
It is very simple, but millions of people on the Earth follow it day by day, month by month, year by year. There are two circles in this diagram. The large circle is for physiological aspects, and the small circle is for psychological aspects.
Where should we start to help Zina?
– She needs desire.
– Right. She needs desire.
– Take away Hunger.
– Eugenia, you are right.
N.B.! Hunger is forbidden! We have to eat four-six times a day. Regular balanced meals.
Would we meet Mr. Eating-Frenzy in that case?
– No.
– Of course not.
Over-eating is a pathologic state. Extreme emotional narrowed state of consciousness, extreme emotional disturbance, if it is proven, is considered to be a mitigating circumstance for any crime, even murder. As we see, Zina accumulates hunger impulses and brings herself to the state when she is not able to control herself anymore. She just can’t stop eating!
When people were taken out of besieged Leningrad, and, outside the siege ring, they finally got access to food, they were told: “You shouldn’t eat a lot right away. Eat a little bit today, then a little more tomorrow. Increase your food portion day by day, and then, probably, you will survive.” What did they do? Some people sneaked into the storerooms at night. They even broke locks, gorged with food and died from intestinal obstruction. It’s impossible to stop a person from over-eating even under penalty of death if he falls into the eating frenzy. If we feed our Hunger with tasty, hearty, and rational food regularly, we won’t face eating-frenzy.
Praise and discountenance
Should we do something about our habit of criticizing ourselves?
– It should be forbidden!
– Of course. More than that – I advise you to start praising yourself! You fed yourself – “Good job!” You’ve done something good for yourself, treat yourself well – “What a good girl (or a boy)!”
Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs This story about Zina came into my mind again. I had a good laugh and then started to think about it. When I heard this fact of life, it was a shock for me. Why? It’s a simple description of my typical behavior,