Eating disorders are much more complicated than that. The food and weight-related issues are symptoms of something deeper: things like depression, loneliness, insecurity, pressure to be perfect, or feeling out of control. Things that no amount of dieting or weight loss can cure. The difference between dieting and anorexia Healthy Dieting Anorexia Healthy dieting is an attempt to control weight. Anorexia is an attempt to control your life and emotions. Your self-esteem is based on more than just weight and body image. Your self-esteem is based entirely on how much you weigh and how thin you are.
You view weight loss as a way to improve your health and appearance. You view weight loss as a way to achieve happiness. Your goal is to lose weight in a healthy way. Becoming thin is all that matters; health is not a concern. Anorexic food behavior signs and symptoms Dieting despite being thin – Following a severely restricted diet. Eating only certain low-calorie foods. Banning “bad” foods such as carbohydrates and fats. Obsession with calories, fat grams, and nutrition – Reading food labels, measuring and weighing portions, keeping a food diary, reading diet books.
Pretending to eat or lying about eating – Hiding, playing with, or throwing away food to avoid eating. Making excuses to get out of meals (“l had a huge lunch” or “My stomach isn’t feeling good. ‘”). Preoccupation with food Constantly thinking about food. Cooking for others, collecting recipes, reading food magazines, or making meal plans while eating very little. Strange or secretive food rituals – Refusing to eat around others or in public places. Eating in rigid, ritualistic ways (e. G. Cutting food “just so”, chewing food and spitting it out, using a specific plate).
Anorexic appearance and body image signs and symptoms Dramatic weight loss – Rapid, drastic weight loss with no medical cause. Feeling fat, despite being underweight – You may feel overweight in general or just “too fat” in certain places such as the stomach, hips, or thighs. Fixation on body image – Obsessed with weight, body shape, or clothing size. Frequent weigh-ins and concern over tiny fluctuations in weight. Harshly critical of appearance ? Spending a lot of time in front of the mirror checking for flaws.
There’s always something to criticize. You’re never thin enough. Denial that you’re too thin ? You may deny that your low body weight is a robber, while trying to conceal it (drinking a lot of water before being weighed, wearing baggy or oversized clothes). Purging signs and symptoms using diet pills, laxatives, or diuretics – Abusing water pills, herbal appetite suppressants, prescription stimulants, ipecac syrup, and other drugs for weight loss. Throwing up after eating – Frequently disappearing after meals or going to the bathroom.
May run the water to disguise sounds of vomiting or reappear smelling like mouthwash or mints. Compulsive exercising – Following a punishing exercise regimen aimed at burning calories. Exercising wrought injuries, illness, and bad weather. Working out extra hard after binging or eating something “bad. ” Although our culture’s idealization of thinness plays a powerful role, there are many other contributing factors, including your family environment, emotional difficulties, low self-esteem, and traumatic experiences you may have gone through in the past.
Psychological causes and risk factors for anorexia People with anorexia are often perfectionists and overachievers. They’re the “good” daughters and sons who do what they’re told, excel in everything they do, and focus on pleasing others. But while they may appear to have it all together, inside they feel helpless, inadequate, and worthless. Through their harshly critical lens, if they’re not perfect, they’re a total failure. Family and social pressures In addition to the cultural pressure to be thin, there are other family and social pressures that can contribute to anorexia.
This includes participation in an activity that demands slenderness, such as ballet, gymnastics, or modeling. It also includes having parents who are Overly controlling, put a lot Of emphasis on looks, diet themselves, or criticize their children’s bodies and appearance. Stressful life events?such as the onset of puberty, a breakup, or going away to school?can also trigger anorexia. Biological causes of anorexia Research suggests that a genetic predisposition to anorexia may run in families.
If a girl has a sibling with anorexia, she is 10 to 20 times more likely than the general population to develop anorexia herself. Brain chemistry also plays a significant role. People with anorexia tend to have high levels of cortical, the brain hormone most related to stress, and decreased levels of serotonin and morphogenesis, which are associated with feelings of well- being. Steps to anorexia recovery Admit you have a problem. JP until now, you’ve been invested in the idea that life will be better?that you’ll finally feel good?if you lose more weight.
The first step in anorexia recovery is admitting that your relentless pursuit of thinness is out of your control and acknowledging the physical and emotional damage that you’ve suffered because of it. Talk to someone. It can be hard to talk about what you’re going through, especially if you kept your anorexia a secret for a long time. You may be ashamed, ambivalent, or afraid. But it’s important to understand that you’re not alone. Find a good listener?someone who will support as you try to get better.
Stay away from people, places, and activities that trigger your obsession with being thin. You may need to avoid looking at fashion or fitness magazines, spend less time with friends who constantly diet and talk about losing weight, and stay away from weight loss web sites and “pro-Ana” sites that promote anorexia. Seek professional help. The advice and support of trained eating disorder professionals can help you regain your health, learn to eat normally again, and develop healthier attitudes about food and your body.
Anorexia treatment and therapy Since anorexia involves both mind and body, a team approach to treatment is often best. Those who may be involved in anorexia treatment include medical doctors, psychologists, counselors, and dieticians. The participation and support of family members also makes a big difference in treatment success. Having a team around you that you can trust and rely on will make recovery easier. Treating anorexia involves three steps: Getting back to a healthy weight Starting to eat more food Changing how you think beauteousness and food Medical treatment for anorexia
The first priority in anorexia treatment is addressing and stabilizing any serious health issues. Hospitalizing may be necessary if you are dangerously malnourished or so distressed that you no longer want to live. You may also need to be hospitalized until you reach a less critical weight. Outpatient treatment is an option when you’re not in immediate medical danger. Nutritional treatment for anorexia A second component of anorexia treatment IS nutritional counseling. A nutritionist or dietician will teach you about healthy eating and proper nutrition.
The nutritionist will also help you develop and follow meal plans hat include enough calories to reach or maintain a normal, healthy weight. Counseling and therapy for anorexia Counseling is crucial to anorexia treatment. Its goal is to identify the negative thoughts and feelings that fuel your eating disorder and replace them with healthier, less distorted beliefs. Another important goal of counseling is to teach you how to deal with difficult emotions, relationship problems, and stress in a productive, rather than a self-destructive, way.
Diagnosis If your doctor thinks that you may have an eating disorder, he or she will compare your weight with the expected weight for someone of your height ND age. He or she will also check your heart, lungs, blood pressure, skin, and hair to look for problems caused by not eating enough. You may also have blood tests or X-rays. Your doctor may ask questions about how you feel. It is common for a transcendental health problem such as depression or anxiety to play a part in an eating disorder. Diagnosis The first Step toward a diagnosis is to admit the existence of an eating disorder.
Often, the patient needs to be compelled by a parent or others to see a doctor because the patient may deny and resist the problem. Some patients may even self-diagnose their condition as an allergy to reverberates, because after being on a restricted diet, eating carbohydrates can produce gastrointestinal problems, dizziness, weakness, and palpitations. This may lead such people to restrict carbohydrates even more severely. It is often extremely difficult for parents as well as the patient to admit that a problem is present.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CAB) is considered the treatment of choice for people with anorexia. With the support Of decades’ worth Of research, CAB is a time-limited and focused approach that helps a person understand how heir thinking and negative self-talk and self-image can directly impact their eating and negative behaviors. Cognitive-behavioral therapy will often focus on identifying and altering dysfunctional thought patterns, attitudes and beliefs, which may trigger and perpetuate the person’s restrictive eating.
A researcher in the early 1 sass by the name of Chris Auburn developed a specific model of cognitive-behavioral therapy to help in the treatment of anorexia, using the traditional foundations of CAB therapy ? helping a person understand, identify and change their irrational thoughts (the cognitive” part), and helping a person make the changes real through specific behavioral interventions (such as promoting health eating behaviors through goal setting, rewards, etc. ). Cognitive-behavioral therapy is time-limited, meaning that a person with anorexia will go into treatment for a specific period of time with specific goals in mind.
Like all psychotherapy, it can be conducted in either an outpatient (once weekly) or inpatient setting. If done in an inpatient setting, eating disorders are often treated at residential treatment facilities, since eating is such an integral and necessary part of our ivies. According to an article published in 2008 from the U. S. National Guideline Clearinghouse, “For adults, preliminary evidence suggested that cognitive behavioral therapy may reduce the relapse risk after weight restoration.
For adolescents, evidence supported specific forms of family therapy that initially focused on parental control of re-nutrition. ” “Among anorexia nervous patient populations, at least one-half no longer suffered from anorexia nervous at follow up [after cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment], but many continued to have other eating disorders; mortality was significantly higher than would be expected in the population. “Factors associated with recovery or good outcomes were lower levels of depression and compulsivity.
Factors associated with mortality included concurrent alcohol and substance use disorders. Family Therapy Another form of psychotherapy is known as family therapy. Family therapy helps a person with anorexia see and understand the often-times dysfunctional role they play within the family, and how their eating behaviors maintain that role. Family therapy is usually conducted with the person who has anorexia and their family. However, in some instances, a few family harpy sessions may involve therapy without the person who has anorexia present.
