Anorexia as Symbolic Expression of a Woman's Rejection of Her Mother's Life

Studies have failed to find consistent pathologic characteristics of mothers of women with anorexia nervosa. Yet the anorexic woman's perception of her mother remains implicated in the illness (Brumberg, 1988). Literature based on anecdotal and clinical reports of anorexia nervosa has questioned anorexic women's views of their mothers and their mothers' lives. Comparison of symptomatic and asymptomatic college women found that women with anorexia nervosa described more negative impressions of their mothers' lives. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic women expressed positive feelings for their mothers, but symptomatic women tended to say their mother's lives were perhaps fulfilling for the mothers but not desirable for themselves or that their mothers' lives were very difficult and dissatisfying for the mothers and they would not want such lives for themselves. Perception of maternal role model may be related to anorexia nervosa.