Women with eating disorders are more likely to ‘cut off’ emotionally during sex

Women who have eating disorders are more likely to ‘cut off’ emotionally or ‘disassociate’ when having sex with their partner, a study has found....

Sex is closely linked to confidence and a link was also found between these women and poor body image.

This was true for those who had anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating issues, according to the research, which was the first of its kind and published in the respected Journal of Sexual Medicine.

In particular, women who reported binge-eating were found to have higher levels of cortisol – known as the stress hormone – when sexually stimulated.

‘Dissociation’ refers to a habit of becoming emotionally distant when having sex with their partner instead of engaging in and enjoying the experience.

More than 725,000 people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder, according to the eating disorder charity Beat.

While often associated with young people, recent research suggests more middle-aged women in the UK are affected by eating disorders than previously thought

How the research was carried out

A research team from the University of Florence in Italy and University of Vermont in the US examined 60 heterosexual women aged 25 to 35 years old.

They measured how they felt about their body image, their eating behaviors and level of ‘dissociation’ during sex with a partner.

Furthermore, they assessed the women’s levels of cortisol – known as the ‘stress hormone’ – before, during, and after exposure to explicit sexual stimuli shown within a laboratory setting.

The researchers noted the sample size of participants and the self-reported nature of the questionnaires were limitations.

Being skinny linked to depression

In a previous recent study, being underweight was associated with depression, in both women and men.

It is unclear whether being thin is a direct cause of depression or if sufferers have a reduced appetite and are therefore more prone to weight loss.

The study also found a link between obesity and depression, but only in women.

Researchers from Seoul National University of Medicine analysed data from 183 studies.

Their findings show that obesity proportionally increases your depression risk, so the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to suffer.

Divorce may be triggering eating disorders in middle-aged women, experts revealed earlier this year.

They warn that those in their forties are in danger of bulimia and anorexia from life changes including marriage breakdown and the death of a parent.

A British study found that 15 per cent of middle-aged women have battled an eating disorder, and almost a quarter of these have done so in the past year.

It was thought that by this age women had passed the ‘window of risk’ for eating disorders, which are most frequently associated with teenagers.

The higher-than-expected figures are being blamed, at least in part, on emotional upheaval in later life.

The study, by University College London and Icahn School of Medicine in New York, was the first to look at eating disorders in women aged 40 to 50. The results, published in the journal BMC Medicine, left researchers surprised.

The survey of more than 5,300 British women found that 15.3 per cent – nearly one in six – have had an eating disorder in their lifetime, with 3.6 per cent reporting one in the previous 12 months.

Women in their forties were at higher risk of bulimia if their mother gave them little affection. The death of a parent in childhood made someone seven times more likely to develop the disorder.