Food is a central & essential part of our life. We have different eating habits & liking for particular foods. Our taste & preferences for food keeps on changing based on our environment & food cravings. These are normal tendencies when it comes to food. For some people, thoughts go beyond this: they develop an obsession for food, weight & body shape issues. This makes them drastically change their eating habits. This can result in eating less food or consuming in large quantities. They may even stop eating for a significant period of time. Such eating disorders are mental illnesses that can negatively impact your health.
Some symptoms of eating disorders include:
- Fasting regularly & always concerned to be counting calories.
- They avoid meals with others saying that they have eaten even if they haven’t.
- Checking weight multiples times a day & repeatedly observing themselves in the mirror.
- Experiencing rapid weight loss or changes in weight.
- Feeling tiredness all the time & not sleeping well.
- Women may experience disturbances in their menstrual cycle.
- Fear of putting on weight.
- Anxiety about food & next meal.
- Depression & anxiety are common among those suffering from eating disorders.
Following a strict diet does not mean that you are suffering from an eating disorder. When a person suffers from an eating disorder, his/her relationship with food & their body image becomes irrational.
What causes eating disorders?
Eating disorders can arise from variety of physiological, social & behavioural influences.
- Social factors: Society often impacts the importance of physical attributes & appearance. Such constant pressures can result in low self esteem. In order to overcome this feeling, people start to starve or eat in large quantities.
- Physiological factors: Person suffering from depression, stress or anxiety may resort of excessive overeating or excessive exercise if such factors go out of control.
- Behavioral factors: People who display certain personality traits may be more exposed to developing an eating disorder. People who show obsessive behavior, or those who extremely critical of themselves are more vulnerable to experience eating disorders.
What are some eating disorders?
Some common eating disorders include:
- Anorexia Nervosa : Folks suffering from Anorexia tend to have fear of gaining weight. They believe they are overweight even when they are underweight. Their self esteem is linked to their body image.
- Bulimia Nervosa: People suffering from Bulimia go through an episode of Binge eating which is followed by excessive exercise, forceful puking or long fasting period to get rid of gained weight. Such people’s self esteem is linked to their feeling of control over food.
- Binge-eating disorder: People with this disorder have frequent episodes of Binge-eating during which they feel out of control. They do not try to lose weight & have shame associated with their eating habit. This habit makes them eat alone even if they are not hungry.
- Eating disorders not otherwise specified: Some folks do not suffer from some specific eating disorder, but have some symptoms of above mentioned disorders. They do not have all symptoms of Bulimia or Binge-eating disorder. For example someone suffering from anorexia may be avoiding food for a long period of time but may not be underweight.
How to get eating disorders treated?
Eating disorders are complex problems that have damaging effects on your physical health. However, with proper treatment, a complete recovery is possible.
Treatment includes curing your physical health, mental health, and helping with your nutrition and developing dietary practices. The first step in treatment is to stabilize your condition and ensure there are no serious threats to your health. The next step is to ensure that you have a healthy weight. You will be assisted to adopt healthy eating habits. Counselling and therapy will help you overcome your fear of weight.
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