"When she was young, Kate's mother pressured her away from eating unhealthily. If Kate asked for dessert, she would respond 'Are you sure about that, Kate?' and Kate would drop the issue."
It's implied that Kate's mother was a major factor in Kate's eventual development of anorexia. The authors point out that such a strict eating lifestyle must have damaged Kate's already-low self esteem (her sister and mother were thinner and prettier), and as such, may have led to her eating disorder several years down the road.
They cite a few other small, similar incidences, where Kate's appearance was called into question by people she loved. And these little events, they claim, were what contributed to her anorexia.
But I call bullshit, thanks to a little thing called confirmation bias.
Because when you've already seen the outcome, it's a hell of a lot easier to connect the dots.
This incident at age 6 was her first incidence of eating-related stress.
Her boyfriend suggested that they go running together in the mornings, and 4 months later she started skipping meals.
She chose to write her high school psychology paper on anorexia.
My point is, if you give me enough dots, I guarantee you I can pull something out of my ass that will connect the story from start to finish.
Who knows how many mothers have said that exact same line to their daughters; what mother doesn't want their child to eat healthily? I know my mom used to tell me that all the time.
But that sure doesn't make me, or virtually every other child in this country, anorexic.
Neither does writing a paper on anorexia serve as a precursor to the disease. If that's true, then I'm screwed. I've got cancer, Alzheimer's, and hepatitis, along with practically every nameable mental illness, coming my way.
If you know what you're looking for and you've got an entire lifetime of history to search through, it's pretty damn easy to prove whatever you please.
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