anet is an 18-year-old college student. She has requested counseling from her college counseling center at the urging of her friends. Janet’s family lives out of state. Janet’s friends believe that she may have an eating disorder. Janet sees herself as fat, but to her friends she is startlingly thin. In fact, she is so thin that they are afraid that she will become seriously ill. Janet maintains this low weight mainly by eating practically nothing and drinking two quarts of water a day. She says that she thinks about food “all the time” when she is restricting her food intake, but that she does not want to eat because she is afraid of getting fat. When she does eat, she will run on the treadmill until all of the calories she has consumed are “burned off.” During her evaulation intake, Janet shares with the counselor she has been restricting her food intake on occassions since middle school. She recalls her mother purchasing a dress that was a size smaller than her normal size for a friend’s party. Her mother stated the reason she purchased the dress a size smaller was, “because butter balls don’t wear pink.” Janet really wanted to wear the dress to her friend’s party. Concidentially, Janet got the flu the next couple of days, she did not have an appetite because of the flu and she did not eat any solid foods for about 4 days. After she recovered from the flu, to her surprise she was able to fit into the dress. Because of her illness she had lost 10 pounds in 4 days. Her mother was so proud of her. Janet noticed over the years the more weight she lost, people seemed to pay more attention to her. Janet’s dorm room is adorned with models and she constantly compared herself to these models. Can you explain and analyze Janet's behavior and eating disorder using the psychodynamic psychology perspective?
Janet is an 18-year-old college student. She has requested counseling from her college
counseling center at the urging of her friends. Janet’s family lives out of state.
Janet’s friends believe that she may have an eating disorder. Janet sees herself as fat,
but to her friends she is startlingly thin. In fact, she is so thin that they are afraid that she
will become seriously ill.
Janet maintains this low weight mainly by eating practically nothing and drinking two
quarts of water a day. She says that she thinks about food “all the time” when she is
restricting her food intake, but that she does not want to eat because she is afraid of
getting fat. When she does eat, she will run on the treadmill until all of the calories she
has consumed are “burned off.”
During her evaulation intake, Janet shares with the counselor she has been restricting
her food intake on occassions since middle school. She recalls her mother purchasing a
dress that was a size smaller than her normal size for a friend’s party. Her mother
stated the reason she purchased the dress a size smaller was, “because butter balls
don’t wear pink.” Janet really wanted to wear the dress to her friend’s party.
Concidentially, Janet got the flu the next couple of days, she did not have an appetite
because of the flu and she did not eat any solid foods for about 4 days. After she
recovered from the flu, to her surprise she was able to fit into the dress. Because of her
illness she had lost 10 pounds in 4 days. Her mother was so proud of her.
Janet noticed over the years the more weight she lost, people seemed to pay more
attention to her. Janet’s dorm room is adorned with models and she constantly
compared herself to these models.
Can you explain and analyze Janet's behavior and eating disorder using the psychodynamic psychology perspective?
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