East Helps West to Overcome Eating Disorders
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East helps West
to Overcome Eating Disorders
With eating disorders such as bulimia, or binge eating, on the rise worldwide, Australia’s Griffith University is now looking to the East to help women control their compulsions. Their new therapy is based on the age-old Buddhist philosophy and practice of mindfulness, and is being taught to Queensland women to help them understand and deal with emotions that trigger their binges. Unlike other therapies for eating disorders, the focus is less on food and controlling eating, and more on providing freedom from negative thoughts and emotions. According to Griffith University psychologists Michelle Hanisch and Angela Morgen, women who binge eat are often high achievers and perfectionists who perceive themselves as not living up to their self-imposed standards, or as not being in control of a certain situation. The eight-week program, offered at no charge at Griffith University, involves mindfulness exercises that can help participants live more in the moment, develop a healthy acceptance of self, and become more aware of potentially destructive habitual responses.
Source: Griffith University news, January 2007
