This article discusses about all the negative voices that are heard by the sufferers suffering from eating disorders. Also read the section on Perception.
Everyone do have a inner voice which they use for self talk. This self talk is can be of two types, it either can be self motivating or self destructing. The people who are suffering from eating disorders always have a inner voice that always causes a sense of depression in them which on a long run can turn into self destruction.
People suffering from eating disorders often refer these voices as negative talks, negative tapes.
People who are not familiar with these disorders or people who have never suffered an eating disorder, the only way to understand these voices as self dialogue. Imagine a situation where you are stuck in a problem that needs to be solved. You start to analyze the problem, you sit and understand the pros and cons of the situation. You debate with your inner self and solve all the questions that the problem rises. And this what the inner voice means.
Imagine inner “voices…” that are always negative. Sometimes it feels like they are destroying us from the inside.
Individuals suffering with this disorders often tend to get rid of these “Voices…”. And they try to get rid of these voices by thinking about food, weight and eating. As generally these voices come from a place that is filled with Low-self esteem. These voices make people believe that they don’t deserve to be happy and makes people believe that they are worthless.
Sometimes they tell people that “world would be a better place without the particular person”. These voices only come from places that are with in us which are plagued with self hate and negativity.
These voices convince people that they have no will power, and often berate them for eating disorder behavior itself. It turns out why these eating disorders are so hard to recover due to these voices as they are so confusing and scary and create a self doubt.
Dealing with these voices is a pretty difficult task. As these voices are so difficult to get rid of them. The only way to deal with them is self love, while the voices make it difficult for people to do that.
I have faith we can all fight the negative voices inside us and find our own roads to recovery. I personally and highly recommend buying books on self-affirmation, as well as a keeping a journal. A good way to get started is with a workbook I myself have used called Don’t Diet, Live It! written by two women who have lived and recovered from Eating Disorders themselves. Please remember, I am right here fighting with you!
It is possible for a sufferer to be hearing actual voices, as a schizophrenic does — in this case, it may be caused by extreme malnutrition or dehydration, or some other underlying psychiatric condition. In most cases, the most common use for the term “voices” is as I’ve described above, but in cases where a sufferer may actually be having auditory hallucinations, it must be addressed by hospitalization for malnutrition or by psychiatric medication. Hallucinations can also be an uncommon side-effect of some medications. Click here to read how auditory hallucinations can be a part of other psychiatric conditions, and what may cause them.
Also read: Distorted Perceptions and Perception Part II, Who Are “They”?
