People born in spring more likely to develop anorexia

[pageeglantine]

Overnight, researchers at the University of Oxford published a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry which found that, in a group of 1293 individuals with anorexia, there was an unusually large number born in northern hemisphere spring - March to June, and a much smaller number born in September and October, compared to national birth

Comments

[justhann]

Southern hemisphere, New Zealand. Born in december which is early summer.... Just after spring =]

[justhann]

oh and I have BN wit anorexic tendencies

[01010011]

ain't no such thing. Not that the DSM is infallible or always correct. There's a lot of cross-over between EDs, though, which is slowly gaining more recognition - so it's not accurate to say such-and-such are "anorexic tendencies" or "bulimic tendencies" because most people with BN engage in some form of restricting, and many people with AN either subjectively or objectively binge and/or purge.

[justhann]

thats what i was given a diagnosis as when i was in treatment, and as nothing as changed i just say that is what I've 'got' still now.

[pageeglantine]

There's a couple of old posts on this topic - http://ed-ucate.livejournal.com/399523.html

"Anorexic tendencies" is generally agreed upon as a way of trying to 'climb' the eating disorder 'hierarchy' by adding some of the 'glory' of anorexia to bulimia/ednos which aren't considered 'as good'.

[01010011]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I was trying to say, only clearly articulated, ha.

[sepiacoloredsky]

Mostly off-topic, but regarding the second link in the post you linked, my therapist said that the body image criteria in BN and AN are not one and the same. Some people with EDs do have different "mindsets" than others. For instance, he says that if someone b/p's at least twice a week for three months and is losing drastic amounts of weight, yet is experiencing a disturbance in body image where she does not realize how much weight she has physically lost, this person would be EDNOS (all criteria of b/p anorexia except low weight) and not BN. Both AN and BN have "self-evaluation influenced by weight," but only AN has "disturbance in the way in which one's body ... is experienced

[pageeglantine]

I hope you aren't offended, I meant to add something along the lines of realising that just because someone has a medical degree, does not mean they are infallible or going to save your or going to help at all. There are people who are good at their job and people who suck at it and doctors are still people. What a doctor says isn't necessarily the be all and end all.

[justhann]

Not offended. That is just diagnosis I was given, but I never really did a whole lot of looking or questioned it as they were 'professional'. But reading the past posts, they are full of very good points. I take back what I said.

[sepiacoloredsky]

A lot of doctors don't know much about eating disorders. They think that bulimia = b/p (with purge specifically being vomiting, and maybe laxatives) and anorexia = restrict.

The nonpurging subtype of bulimia accounts for restricting, and the b/p subtype of anorexia accounts for b/p behavior. To diagnose someone as having "tendencies" of the other disorder is pointless and redundant.

[head_ology]

Not all doctors/psychs use the DSM though. I am Australian and was diagnosed with AN b/p in Australia but my GP here in New Zealand(who to be fair doesn't know a huge amount about eating disorders) has put down atypical BN/atypical AN on my referral to the eating disorders service. (I'm b/p-ing 5-10x per day on average and bmi<17.5) These terms are used in the ICD-10 but not the DSM.

[01010011]

Yeah, but atypical AN/BN makes sense (I was diagnosed AN, b/p subtype which is the same thing, I believe) because it describes a specific set of behavior and physical condition (to some extent) whereas the word "tendencies" is fairly meaningless and not one I've ever heard/read of being used in a clinical context. But I'm open to being proved wrong if you have any literature on the topic :)

I think it also bugs me because I only ever see it used in the context above: "BN with AN tendencies" - it implies that BN alone isn't really serious, or at least I read it that way.

[01010011]

re: my last sentence - pageeglantine explained what I meant in a much more articulate manner; see above. :)

[head_ology]

What I meant to convey in my original comment was just, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that someone had been told their diagnosis was x with y tendencies even if it's not actually in the DSM, I do agree with you that adding on anorexic/bulimic tendencies to a diagnosis is pretty unnecessary. I've heard it a lot online and rarely anywhere else, though a couple of counsellors I've seen used it. It frustrates me because it seems to imply anorexia=restricting and bulimia=b/p-ing, as if you need an extra label to handle having both behaviors.