Day Twenty-Six: Obessing Over An Article

I think I might have OCD. My mom and my brother have it, so I'm guessing that there's a really good chance that I have it. I've never really thought about it until today; at least not until tonight. At IOP, we drew what we visualized our eating disorder's to look like, so mine was basically a cloudy fog with the word "food" inside over and over again, and it was looming over a brain (my mind) and a clock (my time). The art therapist threw out the word "obsessive", and I always knew that I had an obsession, but I never considered obessive  compulsive disorder. The fact that it runs in my genes also made me seriously consider it.

This is an article called "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as a Cause of Atypical Eating Disorder: A Case Report". "Objective: To describe a case of an atypical eating disorder with a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and discuss the phenomenological and neurobiological aspects links between the disorders." To me, this says that the objective of the study is to see if there's a link between eating and obsessive compulsive disorders. "Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterised by the presence of either obsessions or compulsions. Available evidence in the literature suggests a continuum between eating disorders(ED), especially anorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive compulsive disorders, the former being generally considered as the primary disease and the latter as comorbidity. Conversely, the OCD symptoms could interfere with eating habits and lead to a clinical presentation that resembles that of an eating disorder." POTENTIAL FOR MIND TO BE BLOWN. I have an obsession with food...duh. I think about food all of the time. If it's not worrying about what food will do to me or dreaming of eating it but then not out of fear (which was the reason in the past), or obessing over how and what I'll eat to meet my meal plan (the current situation), food is ALWAYS in my mind. I find it interesting that my eating habits could be influenced from having another disorder.

In the case study, it says "A 26-year-old Caucasian woman was referred to our Eating Disorders Unit for the assessment and treatment of severe weight loss considered as an ‘atypical eating disorder'. Family history revealed that her mother and a younger sister were treated with medication and psychotherapy for OCD. After 3 months of these new feeding habits she started to doubt the amounts and the quality of the prepared foods and to fear damaging her boyfriend’s health." While my obsession isn't about containation, I relate to this because 1.) I have an eating disorder 2.) I have family history of OCD, and they take meds for it 3.) After I started different eating habits on any kind of meal plan, even when I kind of started one as a freshman, the obsession with food took off.

"In this case report, OCD symptoms clearly preceded the reduction of food intake and were responsible for severe weight loss that closely mimicked AN. A continuum between ED and OCDs has already been described because of some clinical similarities and the prevalence of the comorbidity of both disorders. In addition, these disorders may share some common neurobiological and genetic features. Patients with AN appear to be compulsively obsessed with daily thoughts and behaviours about diet, weight and body image. Furthermore, patients with both EDs and OCD may display a specific cognitive style with dysfunctional thinking patterns like dichotomous thinking, selective abstraction and ‘fortune telling’. The development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms often observed in patients with ED, regardless of whether the behaviours are related to food, have been assumed to be caused or even exacerbated by malnutrition  However, studies comparing the personality and the presence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms before and after starvation has shown that, although those symptoms improve after treatment, patients still display high levels of obsessive-compulsive traits and symptoms after recovery." I'm not sure if I had obsessive thoughts and tendencies before my eating disorder or not. It would explain a lot if I did, and I imagine I did (or at least I hope that I did because it would give more of a reason for behind my eating disorder). I also find it interesting that a lot of my obsession could be caused by malnutrition. Hopefully as I continue to eat the way I'm supposed to, I'll get nourished and less obsessive. Fingers crossed.

I've never considered OCD. I've lived with it in regards to my family my entire life, but it really never crossed my mind. Well, I've always thought that I had "selective" OCD because there are things that I see that have to be a certain way, but there are other things I don't care about. Maybe I'll get tested to see if I have OCD. Maybe not. I think that I'll just wait a while and see if my eating habits change things. For now, I'll just keep eating and praying. That should get me somewhere.

Food Log: Wednesday October 23, 2013:

Breakfast:
Cinnamon-sugar bagel with honey butter

Lunch:
BBQ Tilapia; kale; squash; raw veggies; mixed fruit

Snack:
Protein bar; vanilla milk steamer

Dinner:
Tuna sub-sandwich from Subway; orange; milk

Snack:
Apple; hot chocolate

Snack:
TBD

Pierre Dechelotte, et al. "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder As A Cause Of Atypical Eating Disorder: A Case Report." European Eating Disorders Review 17.6 (2009): 444-447. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.