by Dr. Bruce Goldberg

Anorexia nervosa is a very dangerous syndrome. It is characterized by a patient literally starving herself to death. The patient considers herself to be very much overweight even though, in reality, she is at her proper weight or slightly underweight. When she looks in the mirror, she fantasizes that she sees an overweight figure. I have observed this neurosis in women of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Most commonly, it affects young, single women of middle-class backgrounds.

There was a case that was reported to me not long ago about a 19-year-old girl who read an article in a leading magazine stating that one can never be too rich or too thin. Because this young woman was from a lower middle-class family with little chance of becoming wealthy, she decided that her only hope was to lose weight quickly by starving herself. This sudden weight loss nearly killed her. After a number of hospitalizations and psychotherapy, she realized the futility and danger of her actions and fortunately came to her senses.

I do not treat many cases of anorexia nervosa, but the number of patients calling me with this problem has definitely increased during the past five years. One warm spring afternoon, I received a telephone call from a woman by the name of Gina. Gina was a photographer and she sounded in need of help. It seemed that for the past three months she had literally been afraid to eat. Gina couldn’t explain why, but she wanted to starve herself. Her appetite had all but disappeared, and it took a great deal of effort to eat any kind of food. She was 5 feet, 6 inches tall and now weighed only 92 pounds. Her weight had dropped from 120 pounds in just three months.

Gina arrived at my office the following day, immaculately dressed and, except for a rather emaciated figure, very attractive. She spoke almost in a whisper.

Gina described her problem, beginning when she started having a series of nightmares. At first, she couldn’t remember anything about her dreams, but then memories began to surface. Most of the time she would see a very obese man in his 30s. The look on his face and his mere presence would frighten her. Gina didn’t know what this meant, but she did know that she was afraid of this man.

My work with past life regression was well-known to Gina, because two of her girlfriends had been regression patients of mine. She thought that these scenes could be indications of a past life. I agreed with her premise and began to explain the procedure involved in regressing to a past life.

I informed Gina that it might be difficult at first to go back to this lifetime because she had many negative responses to the scenes she saw in her dream state. Because we are in the alpha state (natural hypnosis) when we dream, it is not uncommon for people to have their own past life regressions while they sleep. Unfortunately, most of the scenes that are relived during the dream state are forgotten immediately upon awakening.

Gina was highly intelligent and, although she had little prior knowledge of karma or hypnosis, followed my explanations with ease. Yet when I asked her, out of trance, about past experiences with nightmares, she had a great deal of difficulty remembering the last time bad dreams had bothered her. She very rarely remembered her dreams, and when she did, they were usually meaningless to her. Before the episode that brought her to my office, she had occasional nightmares, but none of them affected her the way these recent dreams did.

During Gina’s second session, I used simple age regression to take her through various parts of her childhood. She reported scenes of little significance, but this was preparation for her past life regression. Gina was becoming more and more confident of her ability to relax with hypnosis and self-hypnosis. I always teach self-hypnosis to my patients for this very reason.

The third and fourth sessions were spent taking Gina through two past lives. The scenes and information that she reported to me were of little value as far as her anorexia nervosa was concerned. In one past life, Gina was the wife of a Massachusetts farmer in the 18th century. She lived a full life and had no significant weight problems. The second life we explored showed Gina as a seamstress in Philadelphia during the 1850s. Again no weight problems emerged. It seemed that her subconscious mind was fighting me. I gave her some specific suggestions to allow her subconscious mind to relax any inhibitions concerning exploring past life scenes directly relating to her anorexia.

We were both surprised by what Gina reported during her fifth session. I induced Gina into a medium-level trance and directed her back into a past life that would explain the origin of her anorexia.

Dr. G.: Can you tell me what you see?
Gina: I’m at the doctor’s.
Dr. G.: Why are you there? Are you ill?
Gina: No. I’m just getting weighed. My mom sent me here because of my weight.
Dr. G.: What is wrong with your weight?
Gina: Well, it’s high. [Gina’s voice had become very deep and she spoke much slower than normal for her.]
Dr. G.: What does the doctor tell you?
Gina: He tells me I must lose 30 pounds.
Dr. G.: How do you feel about that?
Gina: I want to tell him what he can do with those 30 pounds. [Patient was very annoyed.]
Dr. G.: What is your name?
Gina: Edward. Edward Laslow.
Dr. G.: How old are you, Edward?
Gina: Call me Eddie. [Patient very demanding.] I’m 16.
Dr. G.: What year is this?
Gina: 1906.
Dr. G.: Where do you live?
Gina: Chicago.

When I asked about her weight, Gina (Edward) squirmed in the recliner. It was as if seeing herself at that weight disgusted her. Further questioning revealed that Eddie had always been overweight, and his well-to-do parents had tried everything they could think of to help him lose weight.

Eddie was rather spoiled and was used to getting what he wanted. He was also quite cruel and got into many fights at school. He seemed to enjoy bullying other children, especially younger ones. As Gina described his activities, she would continue to squirm in my chair.

I next progressed Eddie ahead five years in time. The following information was uncovered over two 45-minute sessions.

Dr. G.: Where are you now, Eddie?
Gina: I’m working in one of my father’s restaurants.
Dr. G.: What kind of work do you do?
Gina: I’m assistant manager.
Dr. G.: Do you like your job?
Gina: It’s okay. But I’m going to like it better when I get to be manager.
Dr. G.: Is that going to take long?
Gina: No. In fact, I’m going to see to it that I’m promoted real soon. [Gina had a very sinister look on her face.]
Dr. G.: How are you going to do that?
Gina: One of the waitresses, Mary, is a very good friend of mine. I am going to arrange for a little show for my father’s benefit.
Dr. G.: What kind of show?
Gina: My father is a real prude. When he finds out that Mary is having an affair with Stan [the manager], he will most certainly fire Stan and I’ll be made manager.
Dr. G.: Why are you so certain your father will fire Stan?
Gina: Because Stan is a married man and, like I told you, my father is a real prude.

Eddie was a very shrewd operator. He had a great deal of influence on Mary because she owed him some money. It was not difficult for Eddie to talk her into staging an affair with Stan. One evening Mary was entertaining Stan at her apartment when they received an unexpected visitor—Eddie’s father. Eddie had one of the waiters inform his father about the affair and the restaurateur went to question Mary about this accusation.

Upon entering Mary’s apartment, Eddie’s father became outraged at Stan and fired him immediately. The following day, Eddie was appointed manager of the restaurant. This type of underhanded dealing was to become a trademark for Eddie.

During the next 10 years, Eddie developed quite a reputation. With his father dead, Eddie was now owner of four restaurants in Chicago. At one time, he had a partner, but this partnership broke up after it became evident that Eddie had cheated his partner out of $50,000. Each time Gina described one of these unethical or illegal dealings, she wore a look of disgust.

I next progressed Eddie to the year 1926.

Dr. G.: Eddie, where are you now?
Gina: I’m in my office counting the day’s receipts. It’s been a good day.
Dr. G.: I trust the restaurant business has been good to you.
Gina: It’s not just the restaurants. Ha, ha! [Patient was laughing now.]
Dr. G.: What do you mean?
Gina: I run a separate business on the side.
Dr. G.: What kind of business?
Gina: A speakeasy, what else?
Dr. G.: How long have you been involved with speakeasies?
Gina: Oh, about five years now.
Dr. G.: Who do you get your alcohol from?
Gina: Frankie.
Dr. G.: Who is Frankie?
Gina: He has connections with the Capone mob. I like Frankie. He’s my kind of guy.
Dr. G.: What is that?
Gina: Frankie kills people who get in his way. He is always straight with me and I like the way he handles his women.
Dr. G: How does he handle his women?
Gina: He beats them when they talk back to him. Now, that’s the way to treat a dame.
Dr. G.: Do you beat your women, Eddie?
Gina: Of course I do. I only hit my wife occasionally. But I beat my other women when they deserve it.

Eddie had many affairs and most of them ended violently. He had two different apartments in the city, which were inhabited by his two mistresses. A couple of his former girlfriends were killed by one of Frankie’s men. One of these girls had tried to blackmail Eddie while the other had been unfaithful to him. If there was one thing Eddie couldn’t tolerate, it was a woman going out on him.

It seems, in addition, that Eddie always rewarded himself with food. He would gorge himself with food after sex, and after completing business deals or anything else he found pleasurable. He even bragged to me about a food orgy he had in 1924 after successfully arranging the killing of a federal agent who was investigating his speakeasies.

Interestingly, Eddie would not allow his picture to be taken. He may have been afraid it would be used by the police to identify him, though he had no criminal record. My interpretation is that he didn’t like seeing his obese figure. All of Eddie’s girlfriends were thin and beautiful. His wife was also thin and very attractive. Eddie liked surrounding himself with beautiful objects and beautiful people.

I next progressed Eddie to the last day of his life.

Dr. G.: Eddie, where are you now?
Gina: I’m in my office putting money into my safe.
Dr. G.: What year is it?
Gina: It’s 1928. Where have you been? [Patient quite nervous.]
Dr. G.: Are you alone?
Gina: Of course, I’m alone. Quiet, can you hear that?
Dr. G.: No. What’s happening?
Gina: It’s Frankie. He came in through my private entrance.
Dr. G.: Why is he here?
Gina: He’s accusing me of skimming.
Dr. G.: Have you been skimming money from Frankie and the mob?
Gina: Yes. Wait a minute, he’s pulling a gun on me.
Dr. G.: Where is Frankie now?
Gina: He’s standing in front of my desk. He’s telling me that he’ll never have to worry about me skimming again.
[Patient now very excited and begins to stutter.]
Dr. G.: What’s happening now, Eddie?
Gina: Frankie, please don’t shoot! No, no, ohh! [Gina was motionless for about one minute.]

I progressed Gina forward after Eddie died to find out exactly what happened. Frankie shot Eddie for cheating the mob out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Gina seemed to be relieved when death finally came to Eddie. It was obviously an end to a most degrading life. I brought Gina back to the present.

We discussed this life in detail. She was very satisfied with her newfound knowledge. I am happy to report that during the next six weeks, she gained 25 pounds and maintained her weight at about 117 pounds. Her anorexia nervosa disappeared almost immediately and, to the best of my knowledge, has not recurred.

There were many interesting principles that Gina’s life as Eddie illustrated. First, viewing scenes of her past life as Eddie in the dream state brought back the obesity and degeneracy of that incarnation. Gina couldn’t deal with this so she decided to starve herself to prevent herself from becoming obese Eddie Laslow. It was not just Eddie’s obesity that horrified Gina. Eddie’s complete lack of ethics or morality, his infidelity to his wife, and his criminal involvements all disgusted Gina.

Secondly, Eddie never allowed his picture to be taken. In this life Gina is a photographer and loves having her own picture taken. In fact, she once worked as a model. Thirdly, Gina had a fear of guns that she could never explain. Being shot to death by Frankie in her past life left Gina with this phobia, which disappeared shortly after this regression.

Finally, Gina’s voice was naturally very soft, but when she spoke as Eddie Laslow, it became deeper and slower. In addition, she showed many facial changes, and at times, developed an almost sinister appearance when she spoke as Eddie.

Gina’s life was greatly affected by her reliving her existence as Eddie Laslow. It may literally have saved her life.

A compulsion is defined as a repetitive and seemingly purposeful behavior that is performed according to certain rules or in a stereotyped fashion. The behavior is not an end in itself, but is designed to produce or prevent some future event or situation. The activity is quite excessive and is not connected in a realistic way with what it is designed to produce or prevent. The individual generally recognizes the senselessness of the behavior and does not derive pleasure from carrying out the activity, although it provides a release of tension.

With this background, you can now appreciate Pete’s predicament. Pete called me in August of 1984. He was a clinical psychologist and had a hand-washing compulsion. He knew the definition of a compulsion very well, but could not help himself. Pete had spent years in therapy with no results. He would constantly wash his hands, day and night. He changed his clothes two to three times a day to “remove the dirt.”

Pete was a truly pleasant man. I could see him relating rather well to his patients. He was always neatly dressed, well groomed, and soft-spoken. Under no circumstances could he treat a patient with a compulsion. It was just too close to home and he would refer them out. There were many interruptions in his practice because he would wash his hands at least once during a session, usually after shaking hands with the patient.

Pete’s biggest fear was the possibility of being contaminated. There was absolutely no logic to his concern. He felt that if he didn’t go through his daily rituals, he would somehow be contaminated and wouldn’t be able to function. Another unusual aspect of his psychological profile was the number eight. This number haunted him. He was born in August (the eighth month). Every time he obtained a telephone number or a new address, the number eight was always well represented. His grandmother died in August, and there were many other deaths in his family during the eighth month of the year.

As a result, Pete always exhibited a form of anxiety and depression every August. His first call to my office to set up his initial session occurred at the end of August. Another strange occurrence was the name Teresa. This is not a particularly common name, but one that Pete associated with negativity. A girl he dated in graduate school rather cruelly ended their relationship just prior to his oral exam for his doctorate. Her name was Teresa. Throughout his growing up years, the name Teresa would send chills down Pete’s spine. He could not explain why.

Pete recovered from the Teresa who had ended their relationship, but the name still haunted him. He had one car accident in his life and the woman involved was hospitalized with numerous injuries. Her first name was Teresa, and there were two eights on her license plate. In addition, this automobile accident took place late one August evening.

By the time Pete actually entered my office in September of 1984, he was desperate. He just had to rid himself of this compulsion once and for all. It was causing him to lose sleep, and additionally, it was certainly not helping his therapy practice. Many people are given a poor impression by a psychologist who washes his hand immediately after greeting you.

Pete proved to be an average hypnotic patient. By that I mean, his trance depth fit into the light to medium range. The majority of the population can easily attain this level. As I have mentioned before, one does not need to reach a deep level of hypnosis to regress into past lives or progress into a future lifetime. In Pete’s case, this was more than sufficient for his explorations.

Pete’s first past life helped explain a lot about his current symptoms. The year was 1888 (note the presence of the number eight) and the city was Paris. Pete was a female singer named Marie Duvall. Marie was very successful on the stage, but her morals left something to be desired. She was a prostitute for years before she became known for her musical and acting talents.

Even after achieving a name on the stage, Marie still used her body to get what she wanted. She was very ambitious and aggressive (a complete opposite of Pete today). Pete cringed at the thought of what Marie did and represented. She was vain, selfish, cruel, and ruthless. She slept with men indiscriminately just to get what she wanted from them. She was never satisfied; she always had to have more.

Pete would comment to me during these sessions about how “dirty” Marie was. She would have sex with one man and without washing herself, sleep with another during her prostitute days. One of the events that truly saddened Marie was the death of a lover. She became infatuated with a man who worked for the government. He was powerful and Marie couldn’t get enough of him. She loved power. One day he was killed by a German agent.

The French government knew about their affair and convinced Marie to work for them. She readily agreed because revenge was a part of her personality. She acted occasionally as a spy for the French government and only wanted assignments against Germany. One night she was sleeping with a German agent and her assignment was complete. She obtained the needed information, but decided to kill him herself. In a series of violent thrusts Marie stabbed the German agent to death. Her naked body was covered with his blood. She stood and laughed about this. It was at least an hour before she washed herself off. During this scene, Pete was cringing in his chair. He couldn’t stand the sight of Marie standing there drenched in blood laughing about a murder she had just committed.

Shortly thereafter, Marie informed the French government she could no longer work for them. She continued with her life, satisfied that her lover’s death was avenged. As the years went by, she began to have nightmares about that murder. Feelings of guilt flooded her mind. She didn’t know what to do.

Although she was not a religious woman, Marie felt a trip to a convent outside the city would be the solution. She wanted to confess her sins, especially the murder. When she arrived at the convent, the sister in charge spent a great deal of time listening to her story. At the end of this she told Marie that they could not absolve her of her sins. The date was August 8 and the nun was named Sister Teresa.

When Pete came out of that trance, he was made aware of a number of facts. First, the number eight had played a rather prominent role in Marie’s life. Second, a person with the name of Teresa had finally emerged as a possible source of his anxiety. Last but not least, a source of his hand-washing compulsion reared its head. (You will note that I say a source and not the source. Pete’s case was far too complicated to be explained by one past life regression.) One interesting aside on this life was Marie’s failure to find peace with Sister Teresa. Perhaps that was the main reason Pete chose psychology as a profession: Now he could help people when he himself couldn’t obtain that needed aid 100 years ago.

The rest of Marie’s life was inconsequential to Pete’s condition, so we left her alone and explored another life. In an African life, Pete was a female and a mother. Her husband was killed in a war and she was left to raise her baby daughter. Loneliness was a definite problem, but even more significant, a plague annihilated her baby daughter and most of her village. She survived a good many years, but lived in constant fear for her life and always blamed herself for the death of her daughter, even though there was nothing she could have done to prevent it. Eventually, this woman died. The key point in this life was the plague and the blame she projected onto herself. Here we have another cause-effect relationship with the current compulsion.

For Pete’s third trip back in time he described a life in England during the 15th century. This time Pete was a male named James. James was a nobleman and spent most of his time in the king’s court. He had an older brother, Robert, who was also at the king’s side. Later, the king became sexually involved with James and his brother. Pete again began to cringe when he described this homosexual relationship. He called it “sick” and “dirty.”

As time passed, a power struggle developed between James and his brother. Because both were lovers of the king, they received special treatment and favors. Robert was older and was thus given more power and authority. This angered James and a battle of wits ensued between the brothers for power and position.

James (Pete) lost this battle and was banished from England. He grew depressed and, in France, planed his next move. He returned with some men and murdered Robert. The king was furious and had James beheaded.

Pete cringed in my recliner as he perceived his death. He described the blade as being “filthy with the blood of its previous victims.” Here again we can see cause-effect relationships to explain Pete’s current compulsion. Do not ignore the guilt he felt from violence (killing his brother) and his homosexual relationship with the king. Sex, violence, guilt, and a dirty blade were the karmic carryovers from this English life.

Excerpt from Past Lives, Future Lives Revealed