Eating Disorders and Mentalization

High Reflective Functioning in Patients with Bulimia Nervosa

Bibliographic Data

ID8335706
AuthorsSigne Holm Pedersen (0000-0003-2518-2966, Department of Social Sciences), Stig Poulsen (0000-0002-0536-1820, Department of Social Sciences), Susanne Lunn (0000-0002-6812-1867, Department of Social Sciences)
Year2015
Volume63
Issue4
Pages671-694
Publication date2015-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0651 • E-ISSN: 1941-2460
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0003065115602440
PMID26316406
OpenAlexW2178786043
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited18

The theory of mentalization has recently been applied in the area of eating disorders (Skårderud 2012). This article reports a qualitative study based on interviews with five women suffering from bulimia nervosa. All five scored high on the Reflective Functioning Scale, indicating a highly developed ability to mentalize. The present qualitative study, which focuses on the women’s capacity to relate to and regulate affects, supports the finding that they are relatively skilled at reflecting on their own and others’ thoughts and emotions. However, this highly developed capacity for mentalization is apparently not helping them regulate their emotions. This suggests that the capacity to mentalize may not be as closely related to the capacity to regulate affects as Fonagy et al. (2002) have proposed. Indeed, the concept of mentalization may be overinclusive and in need of stricter definition. Thus, it might be envisaged that while the ability to mentalize is closely related to the ability to put feelings into words (the opposite of alexithymia), an ability to mentalize may not necessarily entail a capacity to regulate affects. Finally, the study illustrates that far from all eating-disordered patients have problems mentalizing

Eating disorders · Mentalization · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies · Clinical Psychology · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders · Psychology