We are a country obsessed with weight. We can't stop talking about it. "Carbs are making us fat. "Soda is making us fat. "Video games are making us fat. Oprah is losing weight, Oprah is gaining weight. The government has declared a war on obesity. The more we talk about it, the fatter we are becoming. But maybe part of the reason that we are losing the battle against obesity is because we have not adequately acknowledged the significance of trauma as a root cause of obesity. Largely missing from our public debate has been the recognition that trauma, in particular sexual abuse and its after effects including anxiety, depression and other symptoms of POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER drive compulsive eating for millions of people. What we are learning from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, bariatric and social science is that the damage inflicted by trauma not only results in addictive eating but becomes part of a cycle that makes it nearly impossible for many survivors to lose weight and keep it off.
EXCERPT from ''EATING MY SECRETS" due out in Fall 2012.
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