anorexia Tag's Archives
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that most commonly affects teenage girls and young women. However, it can also occur in adults, both male and female. People with anorexia nervosa are extremely conscious and obsessive about their weight.
They may weigh themselves several times a day or spend a great deal of time looking at their figure in the mirror. Even though they are very thin, people who suffer from this disorder actually think they are overweight.
When they look in the mirror, they do not see themselves as others do. All they are concerned about is losing more weight or the never ending fear of weight gain. Although doctors do not know what causes anorexia nervosa, patients who are afflicted with this disorder often have similar personality and behavioral traits.
There are two different types of Anorexia that people suffer from; the first is restricting anorexia and the second, binge eating/purging anorexia. The underlying characteristics for both types are basically the same; with both types of anorexia the sufferer will have a total fear of weight gain.
The sufferer will also have a greatly distorted vision of there own body, they will always see themselves as being overweight even when they are no more than barely skin and bones.
Both types of anorexia may also include depression as a symptom and as a result of there denial of the problem it is often friends and relatives who are the first to notice and bring up the fact that they do indeed have an illness.
Anorexia is thought be a “women’s problem” but while it is true that it does affect more women than men; men do suffer from anorexia too. The disease most commonly occurs in young women between the age of 15 and 18 and often the onset usually occurs during adolescence, it can also occur in later life but this is rare.
Gradually over a period of perhaps weeks or months you have seen a change in your child, at first it was hardly noticeably perhaps a change in there mood or there habits were the first sign that something was amiss. The change probably didn’t give you cause to worry too much, being a teenage girl isn’t the easiest of times for either the child or the family.
Boyfriends arise on the scene at this age as does every teenager’s nightmare, acne, falling out with friends; school work and exams all play a significant part in this stage of a teenager’s life. It has happened to us all and will continue happening throughout time.
Gradually though the changes have gotten worse, your child isn’t the happy smiling young lady blossoming into womanhood you expected her to be. The changes happening to her body aren’t the ones you thought you would see, along with the terrible teenage years you now have a much more serious problem to contend with. Your budding teenage daughter is losing weight rapidly; the jeans that once hugged her hips are now falling way below them. Her cheeks which were always fresh and rosy red have now begun taking on a sallow look, her skin perhaps a little ashen or clammy.
In order to fully understand anorexia and the individuals who suffer from this debilitating disorder, we first need to clear up some common misconceptions and myths frequently associated with the illness.
First of all anorexia is not limited to teenage girls. Although it is more common among them than any other age group, anorexia can affect both men and women regardless of their age. Young girls in their teenage years may be more susceptible to the disease simply because of all of the changes they are undergoing both physically and mentally.
Many women suffer from a lack of self esteem and anorexia may help them feel like they are more in control of their lives. In today’s very appearance conscious society, women are often very aware of their weight. In people with anorexia, their concern about their weight is overwhelming. Secondly, men who suffer from anorexia or any other eating disorder are not always gay. A person’s sexual orientation does not cause anorexia.
There are several different treatment options available for the anorexic, the most important and first step on the road to recovering from anorexia is the moment the sufferer admits they do in fact have a problem. This is the hardest and most crucial one but one that’s necessary on order to make any progress towards establishing regular and “normal” eating habits.
The road to total recovery can be a long one and it’s not always an easy one, it’s not just a simple case of starting to eat properly and putting on weight, the anorexic also has to have a clear understanding of what happened to them.
They will have change the deep rooted feelings they have and the way they think not only about food but also what they think of themselves too.
No Wonder Pill
There is no magic wonder pill we can pop into our mouths three or four times a day to cure anorexia, in fact there has been very little good research written about the various treatment options available for anorexia.
Having an anorexic in the family takes a huge toll on all of the family members involved in many different ways. It is not only the person actually suffering from anorexia that has the problem and some people never think of the others involved but only of the person actual suffering from the disease.
Anorexia not only affects the way they feel about food and its not just simply the refusal to eat, the anorexic will have deep seated feelings and thoughts about themselves, mostly negative thoughts and this affects the way they think of other family members too.
Very often the disease will have a devastating affect on the family’s relationship to the point of almost total breakdown within the family unit, gone are the days when the family sat around talking and laughing discussing what happened at school or work almost total communication may have been lost.
Here we have compiled a dossier of frequently asked questions concerning Anorexia and Bulimia which you may find helpful. If you have a question to ask that isn’t already covered in the FAQs, drop us a line.
Q2: What types of Anorexia are there?
Q3: What is the diagnosis for Anorexia?
Q4: What are the effects of Anorexia?
Q5: What is the difference between Anorexia and Bulimia?
Q6: What are the effects of Bulimia?
Q7: What are the symptoms of Bulimia?
Q8: What types of Bulimia are there?
Q9: What treatments are available for Anorexia and Bulimia?
Q10: Do men suffer with Anorexia and Bulimia?
Q1: What is Anorexia?
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that most commonly affects teenage girls and young women. However, it can also occur in adults, both male and female. People with anorexia nervosa are extremely conscious and obsessive about their weight. Read More…
Q2: What types of Anorexia are there?
There are two different types of Anorexia that people suffer from; the first is restricting anorexia and the second, binge eating/purging anorexia. The underlying characteristics for both types are basically the same; with both types of anorexia the sufferer will have a total fear of weight gain. Read More…
Most people think of women, especially young women and teens, when they hear about Anorexia Nervosa. The reason for this is sound, since teen girls and young women tend to be under a lot more pressure than teen boys and young men when it comes to being and looking thin.
Peer, media, and societal pressures aside, however, Anorexia can, and does, affect males also, although admittedly in smaller numbers. Males under the age of 14 account for about five percent to ten percent of diagnosed Anorexia Nervosa cases, and nineteen percent to thirty percent of diagnosed cases are older male teens.
Despite the fact that Anorexia Nervosa is less common in males, the symptoms and causes of the disorder when it does present itself appear to be the same for both sexes. This would be pressure from outside influences, although with males it may manifest itself more in over-exercising or extreme muscle building without consideration for proper nutrition and weight maintenance.
Anorexia and Bulimia are equal opportunity eating disorders. There is no certain race, gender, sexual or religious background in which these eating disorders are more predominant. Anorexia and Bulimia are psychological problems that just happen to deal with food. There are some similarities in the two eating disorders, but they are not necessarily two sides of the same nervosa coin.
Anorexia and Bulimia – The Similarities
Both Anorexia and Bulimia have the same underlying cause – low self-esteem. With today’s society putting so much emphasis on what is perceived as the “perfect” body and weight, those people with eating disorders see themselves as imperfect.
However, that is not the only underlying cause. Depression and abuse – emotional, verbal, sexual and physical – are also common factors that contribute to the eating disorders of Anorexia and Bulimia.
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