The eating disordered individual has such a fear of abandonment that they will fulfill this function. Families that maintain eating disorders are often very disorganized as well. Humphrey et al. Clinicians and theorists propose that these individuals dysfunction is in regards to food for certain reasons. The rejection of food or the purging is likened to the rejecting of the mother and is also an attempt to get the mother s attention.
Binges are an attempt to fill the emptiness from a lack of internalized nurturance.
The binging is also related to the eating disordered individual's inability to determine whether they are hungry or need to soothe their emotional tensions. This inability is a result of the inconsistent attention to their needs as a child. The research has not significantly focused on attachment and separation theories to explain eating disorders because it did not view the theories as predictive or explanatory. According to his attachment theory, an individual draws close to an attachment figure to feel secure and soothe their anxieties. Other research has supported Bowlby s theory as well.