Starving Passion: A Tribute to Anorexia
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Authors
Sher, Gail
Issue Date
1988
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Ten dreams and an autobiographical study are used to explore the unconscious life of an anorexic woman. This study demonstrates the heavy preponderance of sexual and spiritual yearning underlying the anorexic's abstemious behavior. Her longing is for contact with her spiritual center, her inner Self, which Jung equated with the image of God. Treatment must acknowledge and address these spiritual cravings. A model that deals with her physical side, to the exclusion of her psychical and spiritual side, will not only fail to touch her deeply enough to have a lasting effect, but will iatrogenically harm her by reenacting the very ignoring of her which originated the pathology. Further research on the effects of integrating the spiritual and psychological in a multi-dimensional treatment approach is recommended.