1. Eating Disorders Cognitive model
Cognitive model
Psychological disorders are the result of faulty or maladaptive thinking processes
Anorexia and bulimia may involve misperception of the body
They will also involve faulty reasoning about the self, the body and food/eating

2. Cognitive Distortions in EDs
Faulty thinking in EDS typically includes:
Misperceiving the body as overweight when it is actually underweight
Basing feelings of self worth unduly on physical appearance
Basing sense of self on control over eating/ED symptoms
Irrational/mistaken beliefs about food/fat/dieting behaviours

3. Cognitive Errors in EDs
All or nothing thinking
“I ate one biscuit…that’s blown everything!”
Overgeneralising
“If I fail at controlling my eating I fail in life.”
Magnifying/minimising
“My weight loss isn’t serious.”
Magical thinking
“If I reach size 8 then my life will be perfect.”

4. Cognitive Errors in EDs
Fallon & Rozin (1985)
Male & female students rated themselves on current and ideal body shape
Compared to males, females rated themselves as heavier than what was attractive, and much heavier than their ideal

5. Cognitive Errors in EDs
McKenzie et al (1993)
Female ED patients overestimated their own body size in relation to other women
They judged their ideal weight to be lower than comparable non-ED patients
Following a sugary snack, they judged their body size to have increased. Controls did not.

6. Cognitive Errors in EDs
Women are generally more dissatisfied than men with their bodies
ED patients misperceive their own bodies and have more unrealistic body ideals
In ED patients, minor events related to eating activate fear of weight gain

7. The Cognitive Model
AN and BN are certainly associated with biases and distortions in thinking
However, most women are dissatisfied with their bodies, not all of them develop EDs
A good account of what helps to maintain EDS, but not of what causes them in the first place.