ABSTRACT
Chapter Eight illustrates the author’s concept of the “toxic container”—a solitary state of self-containment that evolves in the absence of an attuned (m)other in infancy, and results in ‘undigestible’ thoughts and feelings being held and stored inside the self. The infant—becoming the child, adolescent, and adult—who becomes his/her own “toxic container” becomes identified with the toxicity, and comes to see him/herself as bad or toxic. This, the author maintains, becomes the source of the notorious body dysmorphia, low self-esteem, and self-hatred characteristic of those who suffer with perseverant eating disorders.
Following the life history and experiences of a patient who “yo-yo” binge/diets, the chapter then explores the spectrum of perseverant eating disorders, addressing the question of who develops which eating disorder and why, and illustrating how eating disorders can be ‘read’, understood, and serve as blueprints for the psyche. The alternating binge/dieting of one patient—who was able to hold toxic feelings inside himself for long periods—is compared and contrasted with the history of another severely bulimic patient, who was barely able to tolerate holding unfiltered toxic feelings inside herself for more than moments at a time.
