Wormer and Davis (2008), describe that eating disorders and
substance abuse can be co-occurring due to the fact that stimulant use can be
used to control weight. Also, persons
with bulimia have a higher prevalence of substance abuse than those suffering
from anorexia. A study that was conducted in an inpatient substance abuse
center found that 15% of the women and 1% of the men had an eating
disorder. Eating binges or periods of
starvation can be identified as relapse triggers or a way to imitate the
euphoric effect of drugs.
In relation to this information from the text book, I found
a study that assessed the prevalence of eating disorders or their symptoms and
their effect on treatment for women in an outpatient center who had PTSD and
substance abuse (Cohen et al., 2010). This article focused more on the
substance abuse disorder than the PTSD and was very relevant to the book. The
introduction began by stating that it known that there is a very strong
connection between eating disorders and substance abuse, but there is not
enough information about the outcomes and treatments and the ability to
identify eating disorder symptoms needs to be a focus (Cohen et al., 2010).
This journal article also stated that the relationship goes
two ways. Women being treated for eating disorders report drug and alcohol
abuse frequently. On the other hand, women receiving treatment for substance
abuse disorders report eating disorder symptoms as well and often have a
fixation with food and body image. The
article also stated that in women who were being treated for alcohol related
problems, 30.1% met the criteria for an eating disorder and 26.9% of women in
outpatient services for an eating disorder met the criteria for alcohol
dependence. Finally, this article also stated that women who have the co-occurrence
rather are more likely to have psychiatric disorders, history of sexual abuse,
and interpersonal trauma. These women typically also have poor social and
interpersonal skills as well as occupational functioning (Cohen et al., 2010).
Like the textbook, this study also found that substance
abuse is more commonly found in those with bulimia rather than anorexia.
Therefore, the study participants were broken into two groups, binge and no
binge. The binge group did not recover as well (Cohen et al., 2010). The fact
that this is the more common group and the less responsive means that research
needs to be done to find ways to help.
Overall, I think this is a serious issue that needs to be
addressed. The article that I read looked primarily at women. However, I am
curious about the co-occurrence in men. I also would like to know more about
specific treatments, since this article was mainly focused on questionnaires
and assessments.
References:
Cohen, L. R., Greenfield, S. F., Gordon, S., Killeen, T.,
Jiang, H., Zhang, Y., & Hien, D. (2010). Survey of Eating Disorder Symptoms
among Women in Treatment for Substance Abuse. American Journal On
Addictions, 19(3), 245-251.
doi:10.1111/j.1521-0391.2010.00038.x
Wormer, K. V., & Davis, D. R. (2008). Addiction
treatment: A strengths perspective. (2nd ed., pp. 107-110). Belmont, CA:
Brooks/Cole.
