Food, Fear, and Feeling Safe Again
When people think about eating disorders, they often picture concerns with food, weight, or appearance. While these are certainly part of the picture, they often overshadow a deeper, less visible driver: trauma.
There is a powerful and often overlooked link between eating disorders and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many clients who struggle with disordered eating also carry histories of emotional neglect, abuse, medical trauma, or sexual assault. Research shows that individuals with eating disorders are significantly more likely to have experienced trauma.
Trauma as the Root
Trauma disrupts the nervous system, impacts self-worth, and fractures the sense of safety and control. For many survivors, the body becomes a source of pain or shame. In this context, disordered eating can be a coping strategy:
Restricting food can create a sense of control when life feels out of control.
Bingeing can numb emotional pain or provide temporary comfort.
Purging may become a way to release unbearable tension or shame.
These behaviours aren't about vanity or willpower. They're often adaptive responses to trauma stored in the body.
PTSD and Eating Disorders: The Shared Symptoms
PTSD and eating disorders often share common features:
Hypervigilance
Dissociation
Intrusive thoughts or flashbacks
Shame, guilt, and negative self-beliefs
Avoidance behaviours
Disordered eating can function as a way to manage or avoid these intense states. But over time, it becomes its own source of distress.
Some Eating Disorders Have Stronger Trauma Links
Research has shown that Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and Bulimia Nervosa have particularly strong links with trauma and PTSD. A 2021 review published in the Journal of Eating Disorders found that PTSD was significantly more prevalent among individuals with BED and bulimia than those with anorexia nervosa.
These disorders often involve cycles of distress, shame, and emotional dysregulation that mirror trauma symptoms.
Fragmented Care
In Australia, eating disorders and trauma are often treated as separate issues. Clients may receive support for disordered eating while trauma remains unaddressed—or vice versa. This fragmented care model can leave clients stuck, cycling through symptoms without meaningful change.
However, emerging research and best-practice guidelines recommend a more integrated approach. According to ANZAED and the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), treating trauma and eating disorders at the same time leads to more effective, long-term recovery. (See: ANZAED Clinical Practice Standards and NEDC Guidelines).
A Trauma-Informed Approach to Healing
As an ANZAED-accredited clinician who specialises in trauma, I take an integrated approach—treating both the eating disorder and the underlying trauma together. This means honouring the survival function of disordered eating while also helping the nervous system learn to feel safe again.
I draw from approaches like EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Polyvagal Theory, and Compassion-Focused Therapy to support both trauma recovery and eating disorder healing.
You Are Not Broken
If you're struggling with disordered eating and a history of trauma, please know this: you are not broken. Your symptoms make sense in the context of what you've lived through. Healing is possible—not by fighting against your body, but by learning to listen to it.
If this resonates with you, reach out. I’m here to walk alongside you on the journey back to safety, trust, and wholeness.
