A guide to eating disorders

On this page you can learn more about the signs, symptoms and consequences of Anorexia and Bulimia!

 

Anorexia Nervosa:

Anorexia is an eating disorder and a psychological disorder where dieting and controlling food intake becomes a preoccuation and main focus of the daily life. Some more key feautures are a distorted image of your own body, refusing to want to maintain a health body weight and also an intense fear of gaining weight. It can become very serious and severe, with thoughts about exercising, dieting, food, your body and purging becoming a full-time task and take up most of your day—leaving little time for friends, family, and other activities you used to enjoy. Life becomes a relentless pursuit of thinness and going to extremes to lose weight.

But no matter how skinny you become, it’s never enough. Because the main issue is not really about the food or the weight but the control and the (short) feeling of success that restricting food intake can give. Controlling the emotions of hunger can become almost euphoric and spending so much time thinking about weight and dieting becomes a 'safe place' where you do not have to face the hard emotions of other problems in your life. But the euphoria is shortlived and soon you will be facing even lower self-esteem, less control, depression and isolation along with an array of physical consequences!

While people with anorexia often deny having a problem, secrecy is a big part of disordered eating behavior, the truth is that anorexia is a serious and potentially deadly eating disorder. But remember - recovery from anorexia is absolutely possible and there is help to get! With proper treatment and support, you or someone you care about can break anorexia’s self-destructive pattern and regain health and self-confidence.

What are some common anorexic signs and symptoms?

• Preoccupation with food, planning meals and cooking for others
• Counting calories, weighing food and reading nutritional values before eating
• Lying about eating or avoiding events where food will be present
• Wearing baggy clothes to hide a rapid weight loss
• Secretive behavior about food, eating alone or in ritualistic ways, hiding or throwing away food
• Denial about weight loss and dieting
• Obsession about scales and the weight in numbers or measurements (such as sizes)

It is not crystal clear why some people will fall ill with anorexia, it can come from a range of factors such as genetics, sexual or physical abuse, low self-esteem or high-level athletics. It does not even have to be a clear reason for the disorder, somehow resticting food intake came into your life when you were at a low point - and it became a way of coping with hardships. We do know that it is more common in females, but remember it can effect people from all gender, social classes and ages! If untreated, you can go on for decades with a disordered eating pattern and I have met elderly women in treatment being up to 70 years old. But it is never a day to late to start recieving treatment!

Bulimia Nervosa (from greek: meaning ravenous or insatiable hunger)

Bulimia is a serious eating disorder and mental illness, and the onset is often during adolescence, between the ages of 13 and 20. Bulimia is characterized by binging on large amounts of food which is then followed by attempts to get rid of the food through purging (throwing up), using laxatives, extreme exercise or committing to bouts of very restrictive eating.

During the “binge” the individual can eat large amounts of food over a short period of time but after it ends panic sets in and you turn to drastic measures to “undo” the binge. A new dieting regime is started, but  the dieting instead triggers bulimia’s destructive cycle of binging and purging -  the more strict and rigid the diet, the more likely it is that your body responds with powerful cravings—and a new binge.

Bulimia is more common in occurrence than anorexia and is also more common in women than men. It affects nearly 1% of the people in the United States (3 % of the female population) at some time in their life and although that might sound like a small number, it corresponds to millions of individuals! Also there are a large number of bulimic individuals that never seek help and they will not get reported in the statistics. Another scary statistic is that bulimia’s frequency of occurrence has doubled since the 1960s, and the reasons for this can be discussed but it is believed (and shown in several studies) that it is related to the thin ideals and models exposed in the media and television industry.

What are some common bulimic signs and symptoms?

· Secrecy surrounding eating and isolation from social gatherings where food is present
· Alternating between overeating and fasting
· Obsession about food, calories and fat content
· Going to the bathroom after meals
· Excessive exercising, especially after eating
· Calluses or scars on the knuckles or hands
· Broken blood vessels in the eyes
· Swollen cheeks and salivary glands

The consequences of bulimia are many and often dangerous; in rare cases it can even be fatal. It affects the individual in a number of ways including impacting his/her physical, mental and social health. It can destroy the teeth with dental cavities and enamel erosion (from the stomach acids) as well as stomach ulcers and open soars in the throat and mouth from purging.

Electrolyte imbalances (low potassium levels) are common and can lead to heart rhythm problems or even heart failure. Other consequences are loss of menstruation, muscle weakness and severe fatigue or fainting. Bulimia is often linked with depression and it is estimated that in half of the cases the individual is battling these two conditions at the same time.

Bulimia can be very hard to discover because of the secrecy and that an ill individual will go far to try to hide their behaviors from their surroundings. Also there is often no significant drop in weight that can alert family or friends, bulimics tend to be of average or slightly above or below average weight.

The treatment of this complex disorder is very critical, and usually the earlier the disorder is detected – the better. Early treatment is important because over time the behavior pattern becomes more deeply ingrained and harder to change, but it is also important to remember that it is never too late to seek treatment! I always encourage everyone to get help because there is a lot that can be done for you even if you have been ill for years and years!

There are many different types of treatment for bulimia and usually a combination of them turns out to be the most successful. Medication is often helpful, especially when there is a concurrent depression but this needs to be evaluated by a medical doctor who has expertise in eating disorders and mental health. What is often even more important is psychosocial treatment, with the first step being stopping the vicious cycle of bingeing and purging and restoring a normal eating pattern. The patient need to avoid situations that trigger binges, cope with stress in ways that don’t involve food, eat regularly to reduce food cravings and fight the urge to purge. Of big importance is to enforce and explore the attitude that a person’s self-worth is not based on weight or body-shape!