Anorexia nervosa and religious ambivalence in a developing country

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to report the first case of the primary nuclear form of anorexia nervosa in Trinidad and the West Indies in an 18 year old female Islamic student attending a Roman Catholic Convent. Ambivalent values due to her early development in a strict Muslim home with Catholic influence and contemporaneous exposure to a western society are explored. The dynamics of family interaction in a dual religious home are investigated. Similarities are noted from reports from western countries that link ritualistic fasting to the month of Ramadan. The influence of the Roman Catholic period of fast, Lent and the dynamics of family interaction are discussed. We wish to propose religious ambivalence as an etiological factor in anorexia nervosa in a developing country.