The hypothesis that eating‐disordered patients utilize their bodies as transitional objects is examined, but the evidence does not support this proposition. Instead, these patients reveal a deficit in transitional object relatedness. It is found that these patients have severe deficits in self‐organization and self‐regulation. Much of the symptomology such as starvation, hinging, vomiting, and hyperactivity is better understood as desperate measures to drown out states of overstimulation and/or fragmentation.
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