3 Eating Disorders, Symptoms & Treatment Tips

Eating disorders are often described as an outward expression of internal emotional pain and confusion. It is a complex mental health conditions that often require the intervention of medical and psychological experts to alter their dysfunction. Most common eating disorders afflict millions of people, thousands of which die from them yearly.

There is good news though, eating disorders can be beaten. An eating disorder involves a distorted pattern of thinking about food and size/weight: there is a preoccupation and obsession with food, as well as an issue of control or lack of control around food and its consumption. Eating is controlled by many factors, including appetite, food availability, family, peer, and cultural practices, and attempts at voluntary control according to national eating disorders association.

Dieting to a body weight leaner than needed for health is highly promoted by current fashion trends, sales campaigns for special foods, and in some activities and professions. Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight.

These are three different types of eating disorders. Eating disorders can cause heart and kidney problems and even death. Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders.

3 Main Types of Eating Disorders

1. Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is reasonable the most notable dietary problem. It for the most part occurs during pre-adulthood or youthful adulthood and will in general influence a greater number of ladies than men. Individuals with anorexia mostly sees themselves as overweight, regardless of whether they’re critically underweight. They will more often than not continually monitor their weight, seriously fetter their calories intake and eating a particular kinds of food varieties.

Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa:

People with anorexia are often preoccupied with constant thoughts about food, and some may obsessively collect recipes or hoard food. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms of eating disorders are also often present in people with the disorder. Anorexic symptoms include a relentless pursuit of thinness and an unwillingness to maintain a healthy weight.
Such individuals may also have difficulty eating in public and exhibit a strong desire to control their environment, limiting their ability to be spontaneous.

Anorexia is formally subdivided into two categories: restricting anorexia and and the binge eating and purging type.

Individuals with the restricting type lose weight solely through dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise.

Individuals with the binge eating and purging type may binge on large amounts of food or eat very little. In both cases, after they eat, they purge using activities like vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, or exercising excessively.

Anorexia may be extremely damaging to the body. People who live with it may have bone deterioration, fruitlessness, fragile hair and nails, and the formation of a sheath of fine hair all over their body in the long term. Anorexia can cause heart, cerebrum, or multi-organ failure and death in severe situations.

2. Bulimia Nervosa

Another significant nutritional issue is bulimia nervosa. Bulimia, like anorexia, tends to emerge throughout pre-adulthood and early adulthood and appears to be more frequent in males than in women. Individuals suffering with bulimia eat a startlingly large amount of food in a short period of time. Each voraciously devouring food episode, for the most part, continues until the individual is horribly full. During a binge, the individual generally believes that they are unable to stop eating or manage the amount of food they consume.

Binges are compulsive overeating episodes in which occur when a person consumes large portions of food that they would normally consider avoiding, and then attempt to purge in order to compensate for the extra calories. Forcible vomiting, fasting, laxatives, diuretics, enemas, and extreme exercise are all examples of common purging habits.

Symptoms may appear very similar to those of the binge eating or purging subtypes of anorexia nervosa. However, individuals with bulimia usually maintain a relatively normal weight, rather than becoming underweight.

Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa:

1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating with a feeling of lack of control.
2. Recurrent episodes of inappropriate purging behaviors to prevent weight gain.
3. A self-esteem overly influenced by body shape and weight.
4. A fear of gaining weight, despite having a normal weight.
5. Side effects of bulimia may include an inflamed and sore throat, swollen salivary glands, worn tooth enamel, tooth decay, acid reflux, irritation of the gut, severe dehydration, and hormonal disturbances.

In extreme cases, bulimia can likewise make a lopsidedness in degrees of electrolytes, like sodium, potassium, and calcium. This can cause a stroke or cardiovascular failure.

3. Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is thought to be one of the most frequent eating disorders, particularly in the United Kingdom. Individuals suffering from this illness exhibit symptoms akin to bulimia or the binge eating subtype of anorexia. It usually appears during adolescence and early adulthood, however it can appear later in life.

People with binge eating disorder do not restrict calories or use purging behaviors, such as vomiting or excessive exercise, to compensate for their binges. Instead, they typically eat unusually large amounts of food in relatively short periods of time and feel a lack of control during them.

Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder:

1. Eating large amounts of foods rapidly, in secret and until uncomfortably full, despite not feeling hungry.
2. Feeling a lack of control during episodes of binge eating.
3. Feelings of distress, such as shame, disgust, or guilt, when thinking about the binge eating behavior.
4. No use of purging behaviors, such as calorie restriction, vomiting, excessive exercise, or laxative or diuretic use, to compensate for the binging.

People suffering from binge eating disorder are frequently overweight or obese, which increases their risk of medical consequences associated with excess weight, such as heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Eating Disorders Treatment Tips

1. Treatment can include medical supervision, nutritional counseling, and therapy thus offering those with eating disorders help.
2. Supportive group therapy may follow Psychology Articles, and self-help groups within communities may provide ongoing support.
3. Behavioral therapy has proven effective in achieving this goal.
4. Psychotherapy has proven effective in helping to prevent the eating disorder from recurring and in addressing issues that led to the disorder.
5. Family members or other trusted individuals can be helpful in reducing what causes eating disorders.
6. Certain selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been shown to be helpful for weight maintenance.