ABSTRACT
An eating disorder may have part of its roots in sexual abuse and/or trauma. In working with eating disorder patients, it has been observed by the investigators that sexual issues arise at particular weights. Sexual abuse is one of the more common initiators of a sexual barrier weight. The patients’ individual weight graphs suggest that at least some who suffer eating disorders avoid a specific body weight that corresponds to specific emotional events that have sexual overtones Physical sexual abuse is the most dramatic of the events that create a sexual barrier weight. Previous studies have suggested a link between sexual trauma/abuse and the subsequent development of eating disorders. The strength of the sexual barrier weight theory is that by reviewing a patient’s weight history compared to life trauma history, one can predict which issues may escalate eating disorder symptoms.
