Eating Disorders: What Are They and How Are They Treated?

The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of eating disorders, their effects, and to explore what eating disorders are. Coming from a previous sufferer of anorexia this will be a tough write for me, but I feel that it is necessary to raise awareness of the possibly deadly consequences of eating disorders.

HelpGuide.org the most common eating disorder is that of bulimia. Help Guide also points out that binge eating is almost as common among eating disorders as anorexia.

The main types of eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and a classification of eating disorders that are simply called or classified as Not Otherwise Specified.

You may notice that you hear more about anorexia also known as anorexia nervosa more then the other eating disorders, however according to

What is an eating disorder? The definition is as follows according to the above mentioned site: "a psychological condition that manifests itself in unhealthy eating habits. These habits fall on a continuum, from eating a healthy, balanced diet on one end, to serious eating disorders on the other end. Eating disorders have serious emotional and physical effects. However, with proper treatment, control and recovery is possible."

Some people may not be aware of what eating disorder consists of or what the "warning signs" maybe for each disorder. I am going to give a description of each disorder below, along with some helpful tips to rid ones self of the disorder.

ANOREXIA: The main descriptions of anorexia are quite simple and make no sense to most people. However coming from someone who fights these urges on a regular basis, they are quite overwhelming at times. Anorexia causes a person to think that they need to lose weight, no matter what a healthy weight for their size, such as height, age, or activity/exercise levels. Having an extreme fear of getting fat, or gaining weight also weighs heavily on an anorexic persons mind. Also an anorexic person can look in a mirror and see something totally different then when other people look at them. In my situation at the worst time of my battle I swore I was fat, and I was close to 95 pounds and was almost 5 feet 5 inches tall. Everyone else would look at me and tell me to eat something, or that I looked fine. However in my minds eye all I saw was a fat, unattractive person. It got so bad for me, and I had hardly any vitamins or nourishment in my body that I could hardly talk. My Dad said I sounded as though I had a load of something nasty in my mouth, this was due to my tongue swelling, so talking was difficult. Treatment for anorexia can vary drastically. In my situation I finally got fed up with not being able to talk, and not being able to do the things that I use to have no problem doing. In severe cases medical attention and intervention are required to help a person dealing with anorexia get over the urges to lose weight, or to maintain an unhealthy weight. According to Health Guide some of the most common treatments for anorexia are as follows: "address physical effects of anorexia, gain weight, implement a plan for healthy eating, adjust to new eating habits and adjust to weight gain, address the psychological underpinnings of the anorexia, and regaining physical health is essential for working toward psychological health: you can devote yourself to developing a healthier mental state when your body is in a stable, healthy condition." Some of these are easier said then done, and can take quite awhile to overcome to once again become healthy. Also the feelings and desires can still creep up on you when you least expect it.

BULIMIA: Health Guide says for bulimia that some of the characteristics are a preoccupation with food, binge eating large amounts of food at one time, being secretive of the actions that come from having bulimia, and "compensation" meaning one or all of the following: self induced vomiting, the use of laxatives, water pills, and or diet pills, also excessive exercising or fasting from food. With bulimia just like with anorexia people with the disorder usually see something that is not there, or see something different from everyone else around them. It is very well rooted into a persons mind and a person with bulimia as well as any other eating disorder can and will make excuses for their actions. Some things you can look for to determine if someone around you is bulimic are problems with their teeth or their mouth in general, discolored hands, fingers and joints, as well as some of the above mentioned symptoms. Some of the treatments for bulimia are determining with the help of a certified professional determining what the real psychological and or emotional issues are that are causing a person to use the above mentioned methods to lose weight. Continued work with a professional are necessary to get to the root of these problems and to determine what can be done to curb these actions.

BINGE EATING: Is classified as an eating disorder that can cause the person to have eating compulsions that range from eating to the point of being extremely full, people with binge eating disorder will not purge after over filling themselves like someone with bulimia will. Also binge eating disorder has major feelings of shame and hate for ones self before, during, and well after having a binge with food. Health Guide says that obesity is not an eating disorder, however binge eating can lead to obesity. Some of the signs of a binge eater are when someone eats large quantities of food even if they say they are not hungry, eating until extremely full, eating in secret due to feeling ashamed that they are eating large amounts of food, eating due to stress from every day life or issues, also someone with binge eating disorder may start exhibiting other eating disorders as well. Some of the treatments for binge eating disorder are very similar to that of bulimia, with regard to working with a professional to determine what psychological and or emotional issues are causing the behavior to begin with. Sticking with a professional greatly increases the chance of over coming binge eating.

NOT OTHERWISE CLASSIFIED: Applies to any eating disorder that does not fit into one or any of the above mentioned conditions. Also not otherwise classified can mean someone who chews their food without swallowing it, or according to Health Guide someone who purges or binges during times of stress but not at any other time. Also the common signs of not otherwise classified as well as the other types of eating disorders are secretive eating behavior, someone who is moody, loss of memory or the general ability to think normally, depression, and guilt when it is time to eat a meal.

HealthGuide.org also points out to us that some factors that can cause eating disorders to manifest are low self esteem, social anxiety, depression, and lack of control in life situations. Health Guide has an entire list of other causes that give examples also for family factors, interpersonal reasons, biological disorders, culture factors, and precipitating factors. There are numerous more treatment options and explanations for different people as to why they have an eating disorder, some people may not even realize that they have an eating disorder because their actions have became part of their everyday life. Intervention by family and friends and a deep understanding and willingness to help are all factors in the recovery process for all of the above mentioned eating disorders.

With raised awareness and understanding hopefully one day the effects of eating disorders on a persons mind, body, and soul will forever be gone from our society, but until we all have an understanding to the causes and the thoughts we have a very long way to go in ridding the world around us from the terrible effects of these disorders.

RESOURCES:

HealthGuide.org ~ http://www.helpguide.org/mental/eating_disorder_treatment.htm