OA News and Information for the Professional Community	2004

2004 Highlights:

Also in This Issue:

Why Should You Refer a Patient to OA?

During the past two decades, I have had the privilege of professionally helping people who suffer from many types of eating disorders: compulsive overeating, bulimia and anorexia. Often I’m asked whether joining OA and “working the Steps” holds promise for someone suffering with bulimia or a related eating disorder. My response is always a resounding yes.

With the exception of some forms of anorexia, where the compulsion to overeat is not part of the picture, people with varying “flavors” of eating disorders all have in common powerlessness. A lesson from our alcoholic cousins in AA notes that it’s not how often someone drinks or how much but what happens to that person when he or she picks up a drink. Likewise, for a compulsive eater, it’s not a matter of how often or how much, but the unmanageable life resulting from a compulsive relationship with food.

One of the most prevalent misconceptions about OA is that the goal of recovery, and hence the disease, is only about changing one’s size. Most members experience a significant change in weight by ending their compulsive marriage to food. However, not all compulsive eaters are overweight, and many people who purge after binge eating do not suffer with the symptom of obesity. In my experience, the poorest way to define an eating disorder is to base the diagnosis upon a person’s weight. Add to that the tendency for many people to measure recovery only in terms of weight loss rather than to view it as a positive side effect of working a recovery program. What keeps OA from being just another diet or weight-loss program are the Twelve Steps and the dramatic change of life they bring about, often referred to as recovery.

Overeaters Anonymous offers people of all sizes and shapes the common ground for finding a way out of the food-compulsion abyss. As director of an eating-disorders treatment center, I know that having our patients participate in OA meetings during treatment and long after they return home is the difference between helping them find a brief reprieve from their disease and offering them a long-term solution. Many professionals and treatment programs do good work and help people begin their recovery journeys. However, as with professionals who work with alcoholics, those of us familiar with eating disorders and OA know that OA and the Twelve Steps offer something no single professional or treatment program can provide—long-term recovery from a seemingly hopeless condition.

— M.L., Ph.D., Founder and Director of an eating-disorders treatment center

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A Doctor's Testament

I want to inform you of the benefits of attending OA.

I have a patient who weighed 250 pounds and was 5 feet 6 inches tall when I first met him in 1988. His obesity resulted in a host of health problems, including serious pain resulting from a herniated lumbar spinal disk.

He had a history of an addictive disorder, which responded well to attendance in another Twelve-Step program.

He has regularly attended OA and has been active in the program. When I saw him in my office today, he weighed 167 pounds and had resolved most of his obesity-related health problems.

The success of the OA program has been of significant health benefit to my patient.

— R.S.J., M.D., F.A.C.P. Internal Medicine

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No Need to Be a Victim

I have been a registered nurse for 11 years and am also a 27-year member of Overeaters Anonymous. I have been binge-free for 20 years. My family has a history of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension, but I have none of these problems. At 52, I am active and ski expert downhill trails in Colorado.

I have not weighed my top weight of 186 pounds since 1978, when I wore size-42 men’s jeans. Now I wear women’s size 10. Were it not for OA, I would not have completed a nursing program nor endured the demands of clinical work.

OA is a nonmedical intervention. In a nonjudgmental environment, newcomers learn to feel safe admitting to problem food behaviors among people with similar issues. OA provides valuable support in dealing with the chronic problem of overeating. Therapy groups run by professionals have an important place, but nonprofessional, volunteer self-help offers additional support beyond business hours when overeaters are likely to face temptations.

Some professionals may have encountered OA members who endorse a particular food plan. They may have concluded erroneously that OA requires members to eat a certain way. OA does not endorse a particular plan of eating and encourages members to seek professional advice on nutrition.

Some clinicians have difficulty with the use of certain clinical terms in relation to food compulsions which do not have objective signs of withdrawal. Many OA members report symptoms of discomfort for a period of time after ceasing problem food behaviors and have found the term “withdrawal” meaningful. OA follows the Twelve-Step model of Alcoholics Anonymous. OA members find many parallels in the two conditions.

Thanks to OA, the words “moderately obese” no longer appear in my personal medical records. OA supported me in making drastic lifestyle changes and continues to help me maintain these changes. I do not have to fall victim to obesity-related diseases.

— B.G. RN, BSN

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A Solution that Works

I am a medical professional who has suffered with a binge eating disorder most of my life. I tried everything to lose weight, but nothing worked for long. I always regained the weight and more.

Perhaps you have seen this in your practice — patients who are making their medical conditions worse by not losing weight. They know the risks, and yet they remain obese or overweight.

I have found in Overeaters Anonymous a solution that works for me. I have lost over 130 pounds and have kept it off for 10 years. One cannot argue with success.

I recommend to fellow professionals that they consider Overeaters Anonymous as an option for patients with eating disorders. If these patients were drinking themselves to death with alcohol, medical professionals would probably mention Alcoholics Anonymous. If they are eating themselves to death, please remember Overeaters Anonymous.

If it worked for me, it can work for anybody.

— M.M., medical professional and OA member

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Complementing the Professional Community with Overeaters Anonymous

Many professional organizations and institutions work with OA members. Together they inform other professionals and the public about compulsive overeating and about the resources available in Overeaters Anonymous to address this problem.

OA does not compete with the professional community. On the contrary, many OA members consider OA a complement to the professional services they receive.

In part, OA works because it offers an ongoing support system and encourages members to help one another, thereby weakening their disease of isolation and loneliness. OA members provide this support solely by sharing their experience, strength and hope with one another. OA claims no medical, nutritional or psychological expertise. It suggests that interested members contact qualified professionals for help in these areas.

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So Many Secrets

Secrecy breeds shame.

For many overeaters, our illness is obvious; for others, it is not. I was bulimic and looked the picture of health. No one saw my disease, not even those who loved me. I hid it in a storm of emotions. I was thin, successful, outwardly happy … and vomiting three or four times a day after gorging myself with food.

My disease was killing me until a college professor discovered my secret. Driven by the need to be good enough, I overextended myself. I turned a paper in late because I had been bingeing and purging. I got a C, and I fell apart. I told my professor I was addicted to food and my life was falling apart. In 1980, bulimia and compulsive overeating were not well known. The professor referred me to a therapist who changed my life. I attended group therapy for three years. This was before I knew about Overeaters Anonymous. Group therapy had many principles similar to OA, the most important of which is breaking the silence, thus breaking the shame. I began to heal.

Today, OA provides many of the elements essential to my personal healing. The strength of many transcends the powerlessness of one. The strength of a Higher Power working in one’s life transcends the powerlessness of shame. You know you are part of God’s plan, no matter how imperfect you feel.

Today, as a therapist, I work with people struggling with eating disorders. OA is a powerful resource for many of my clients. While individual therapy is helpful to people’s recovery, the powers of group support and the Twelve-Step program are essential components of recovery that complement the work of the therapist.

OA’s group support is beyond what many people imagine. Often my clients have said, “I can’t do that — I just can’t do the group thing!” “I’ll be the biggest person in the group!” “I can’t talk in front of other people!”
What most people discover is a safe haven, a family of people who truly understand because they have experienced the same struggles. Members feel they are not alone and can let go of their secrets.

I never thought I could stop overeating compulsively. I started overeating and vomiting when I was 15 and did not get help until I was 19. After one year, I had two days of not overeating and vomiting. It took two more years before true recovery began. After 18 years of freedom from compulsive eating (except for one relapse 14 years ago), I can tell you it is possible to stop eating compulsively.

I tell my clients, “Don’t do it alone. Do it anonymously with Overeaters Anonymous.”

— D.L., Ph.D., AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, Columbia, South Carolina

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The World Service Office (WSO) of Overeaters Anonymous carries pamphlets for health care professionals. Call the WSO for ordering information and for titles of other pamphlets that may interest you, or visit our online catalog to see a complete list of OA literature.

Introducing OA to Health Care Professionals — Explains how OA complements professional care. Includes a questionnaire for clients and patients about eating behaviors. (#753K pack of 10/$1.25 plus shipping and handling)

OA Is Not A Diet Club — Describes what OA is and what it is not, and reviews why the OA approach works. (#111 $.20 plus shipping and handling)

Treatment and Beyond — Explains OA’s recovery program and eases the transition from treatment center to OA meeting. (#757 $1.00 plus shipping and handling)

Fifteen Questions — Helps your client decide if he or she is a compulsive overeater. (#755 pack of 20/$1.50 plus shipping and handling)

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We Want to Hear from You!

Please let us know how we can better inform you about OA's Twelve-Step program. Please print the form below, fill it out, and return it to:

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Attention Courier
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Preamble

Overeaters Anonymous is a Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. We welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues or fees for members; we are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. OA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology or religious doctrine; we take no position on outside issues. Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive overeating and to carry this message of recovery to those who still suffer.

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