Anorexia nervosa, relatedness and alienation : a study on the self and social relations

Abstract

So far, not much research has been done on eating disorders in Malta. With my research study, I aim to shed light on personal experiences of individuals who have suffered or are suffering with anorexia nervosa and their discussions on social relationships and identity. This dissertation aims to discuss the lived experience of anorexia nervosa and its relationship with relatedness and alienation. Through food refusal, one can shape and change social relationships by either connecting with others or withdrawing from others. Anorexia nervosa also plays a key role in the construction of identity. In this dissertation, I discuss the struggles with deconstructing and letting go of the anorexic identity in order to recover from anorexia nervosa. The narrated experiences of struggling with stigma and shame due to mental illness are important in the perception of one’s identity and my informants express a need to be identified separately from the eating disorder. Thus, with this study, I aim to shed light on the connection between anorexia nervosa and the social relationships within one’s social environment. I also try to highlight how eating disorders are not merely issues relating to food and body image. The issue is oftentimes much more complex than that. As I discuss in this dissertation, issues — such as bullying, toxic relationships and feeling neglected within social groups — within the social environment often create pressures and internal pain and turmoil. Anorexia nervosa and food refusal sometimes offer a means of externalising this internal pain and making the invisible visible through the physical deterioration of the body.