A Quick Look into Eating Disorders
There’s nothing wrong with the desire of being thinner or at least losing a few pounds, but if you're doing certain things to lose weight excessively or perhaps the other way around, you might be experiencing a type of eating disorder. This is usually common in teens since high school life is the time when bullying and peer pressure arise, but eating disorders can also be present in younger or older individuals. So what is it anyway? What are the types and what symptoms are there?
Definition
Eating disorder is basically a general term that encompasses every cachexia which has something to do with food consumption. It is a group of serious conditions wherein the patient tends to be extremely caught up mentally with the food she's consuming and with her weight. If you think that eating disorders can be changed by simply changing your diet, betting think again. Aside from difficulty in treatment, it's also difficult to catch the disorder. Furthermore, having a type of eating disorder and refusing to treat yourself will make you prone to other serious health problems which are usually life-threatening.
Types
Today, there are more than 8 types of eating disorders that are experienced by people around the globe. Most of it arises in women, but men also have their fair share. Treatment also depends on the type of disorder you have, hence, home remedy without consulting a physician or any other medical expert is not advisable.
Anorexia Nervosa
This is the most common type of eating disorder and is characterized by an unwillingness to eat. With this, you tend to feel extreme fear of gaining weight and end up wanting to maintain a weight lower than what is advisable for your age. Anorexia does not only affect your body and nutrition but also your mind and the way you think. In worse cases, it affects the emotion of the patient. Here’s a shortlist of its probable cause.
• Stressful events in life such as deaths, divorce, or losing good friends • Having a job that calls for perfect weight and shape like modeling or ballet • Family members also have an eating disorder • Attitude of extreme perfectionism
Bulimia Nervosa
This is yet another type of eating disorder where binge eating occurs. This is characterized by eating large amounts of food in a short span of time and afterwards, forcing yourself to eliminate all the food from your body. Forced vomiting is said to be the easiest way, but other people with bulimia engage in too much workout and consume laxatives. According to research, binge arises because people feel comfort from food, however, if you feel you have consumed too much, you end up forcing yourself to eliminate all the food. Causes are as follows:
• One or more family members have a certain type of eating disorder • One or more family member is obese • Extreme perfectionism • Extreme stress whether with life or with work
Binge Eating Disorder
BED or Binge Eating Disorder is a recently-acknowledged eating disorder. This is described by chain episodes of binge eating, however, unlike bulimia you don’t force the food you ate to exit from your body via vomiting. BED makes you extra conscious with the calories you consume.
Most people with this eating disorder appear perfectly normal and has proper weight as well, however, in due time, they may gain excessive weight and become obese. Until today, experts are still blank about the causes of binge eating.
Hypergymnasia
This is an uncommon eating disorder wherein you don’t gain control over your workouts and food intake. It's somewhat installed in your mind that, after eating, you will have to have extreme workout until you assume that all fats you consumed are already burned. This is usually common in athletes, and unlike anorexia, hypergymnasia doesn’t fully focus on the physical image. This is also one of the eating disorders that have no exact cause.
Treatment
Psychotherapy is one of the most common treatments for eating disorders. It will help you realize that what you're doing is wrong. It also helps you determine which are the right actions and the wrong ones in terms of eating and staying fit and healthy. This therapy also helps you obtain a better relationship with your mood.
Family therapy is another treatment done to those who are quite young yet already experiencing an eating disorder. With this treatment, your entire family should cooperate and should make adjustments to make you feel accepted and comfortable. Alongside both of these therapies are chemical-based drugs which may be prescribed depending on how worse your eating disorder is.
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