ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that contemporary eating disorders are the direct successors of the 'madness' attributed to women, the modern diagnosis of 'eating disorders' being both arbitrary and fragmented and contributing to the silencing and muting of the trauma that lies at their basis. The field of eating disorders, in contrast, developed within the psychiatric establishment. Taking on the very psychiatric diagnosis of 'eating disorders' seemed to be like being the child who points out the emperor's nakedness. The chapter talks about the most awful thing of all in the hope of bringing about a change in the way women suffering from severe eating disorders are treated. The treatment of women who have suffered human cruelty requires us as therapists to take upon ourselves the difficult – at times Sisyphean – task of creating a therapeutic alliance based on mutual respect, compassion, love, and empathy.
