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[E93]Eating Disorder Anorexia Bulimia

by Pat Roles, Pat

Eating disorders develop for a reason. They do not appear out of the blue. The reason may not be apparent initially though as many youth keep their concerns to themselves and don't share their self-doubt, fears and worries. Eating disorders develop as an attempt to feel better about something. They may be a way to try to feel more confident, decrease anxiety or worry, feel more in control, or be more socially popular with peers. They may be a way to try to feel more in control when there is a lot of change going on in life or may be triggered by upsetting situations. Many individuals with eating disorders are not very flexible or adaptable and lack self-esteem. They then may find it hard to cope with difficult situations such as: transitions or losses (change to high school, loss in the family through separation, death or moving) or teasing and bullying. Many youth facing eating disorders appear to be successful as children with high academic achievement, excelling in sports or other pursuits on the outside. However, on the inside, they may have a lot of self-doubt, may please others rather than know what their own real needs are, and may not have developed the skills to find a voice to speak up about these inner needs.

Eating Disorders: General Signs to Watch For:

Preoccupations with food, weight, shape and possibly exercise

Weighing self a lot

Obsessed with body shape and size

Focused on food, recipes, calories, preparing food, food shopping (cooking for others but not eating food themselves)

Critical of appearance and feeling overweight when not

Changes in mood with increases irritability or depression

Social withdraw around food and from friends

Irregular periods in girls or loss of menstruation

Guilt around eating

Spending a long time in the bathroom after meals, evidence of vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics or diet pills

Signs and Symptoms of Anorexia:

Drastic weight loss or staying significantly below a healthy weight range for a long period of time

Significant food restriction, changes in food patterns, such as eliminating food groups such as fat choices or desserts

Intense fear of gaining weight

Overexercise may be an accompanying behavior

Feeling of being fat when underweight

Loss of menstruation for females
Signs and Symptoms of Bulimia:

Binge eating where the individual loses a sense of control

Purging of food following a binge such as vomiting, use of laxatives, diuretics or excessive exercise

Secrecy around eating and purging

Extreme guilt around eating

Dental and mouth problems from the acidity of vomiting; possibly excessive tooth brushing

Excessive amounts of food eaten without weight gain

Some people can suffer with a combination of anorexia and bulimia, or anorexia can develop into bulimia. Dieting and food restriction can be triggers for bulimia because the body is starving and this can lead to binge behavior. Binges are then followed by extreme guilt and vomiting provides relief. This release of food can provide not only physical relief but emotional release with a discharge of emotions that are held in.

Treatment for Eating Disorders:
It is important to understand the way these eating practices help each person as it differs between individuals. Because the problem does help in the short run, it leaves people feeling ambivalent about getting totally rid of this problem. In the long run the habit of either food restriction or binging and purging creates another problem requiring attention and is not effective as a coping strategy in the long run with the initial triggers. This means that treatment must include help that addresses the food and physical health but also the emotional health and coping strategies to replace the food habit as a way of coping with distress. Some people suffer with additional problems such as depression that pre-dates the eating disorder, anxiety problems or addiction issues. These all need to be addressed together as they interconnect.

Treatment initially involves an assessment with a team who specialize in Eating Disorders. They will suggest the intensity of treatment which may include outpatient medical and nutritional support as well as individual and family therapy. Family therapy is highly recommended with children and youth who are facing an eating disorder as parents are in a position to assist their son or daughter in dealing with the problem and they also need help themselves to cope as eating disorders profoundly affect all family members. Parent support groups can also be a great help for parents.

In a People Magazine article, American Idol contestant, Katherine McPhee disclosed that she has secretly suffered from bulimia for the past five years. It was her success in television's American Idol competition that inspired her to come forward and get help to recover from her life-threatening eating disorder. Katherine, a vocalist who at her worst point was self-inducing vomiting up to seven times a day, claimed that she realized her bulimic behaviors were ?equivalent to taking a sledgehammer to her throat? and brought herself to treatment.

Glamorizing Eating Disorder Illnesses? Or Becoming an Invaluable Role Model?

Some may think when celebrities like Katherine come forward with such problems it only ?glamorizes? the illness and encourages dysfunction in impressionable young people. In reality, some impressionable youngsters may respond by engaging in self-destructive experimentation, but for the most part, the responses of people like Katherine McPhee provide invaluable role modeling for fans.

Though statistics show that 1 percent of young females in this country suffer with bulimia, the numbers most likely do not reflect the enormity of the problem, as bulimia is among the most frequently missed diagnoses, and only a minority of people with eating disorders, especially with bulimia nervosa, are treated in mental healthcare. A problem cannot be solved until it is defined. In coming forward as she has, McPhee has displayed the courage and intention to achieve her dreams, to become proactive in making her life as healthy, gratified and fulfilled as it can be. Despite the widely held misconception that ?once eating disordered, always eating disordered,? eating disorders are fully curable in 80 percent of cases where recognized early and treated effectively. In her forthright and courageous stand, this American Idol contestant has become a true American idol.

Uncovering the Secrets of Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa: The Most Lethal Mental Health Disorders

The most lethal of all the metal health disorders, bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are extremely hard to recognize. Highly secretive diseases, they rarely show up in doctors? offices during physical or functional assessments; even laboratory tests do not show evidence of eating disorders until they are in their most advanced stages. By their nature counterintuitive, eating disorders typically give victims a pseudo-sense of power and control, creating the illusion of feeling and becoming ?better than ever.? In actual fact, certain stages of recovery feel more precarious and painful than does the disease itself. Making matters even more confusing, many of the symptoms of these lethal disorders lay somewhere along the continuum of normal human behaviors. Who doesn't overeat, under-eat or engage in emotional or social eating at times?

Eating disorders, which essentially represent an abuse of food in an effort to resolve emotional problems, transcend a dysfunctional relationship with food to represent the tip of a physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral and social iceberg, with early signs of clinical eating disorders typically evident in diverse life spheres.

8 signs that parents and families may see at home, around the dinner table, in the family bathroom, or the child's bedroom:

? Erratic eating, eating too much or too little, too frequently or too seldom.

? Dieting and other restrictive eating behaviors (in some instances vegetarianism or skipping meals) that can result in extreme hunger and gorging, irregular menstrual periods.
? Fear of putting on weight, with an all-encompassing preoccupation with food and eating that can account for as much as 80 percent of an individual's thoughts
? Hiding food, and feeling shame and guilt after eating it. The refusal to eat in the company of others.
? Depressive moods
? Various forms of purging, including self-induced vomiting, excessive exercising, laxative, diuretic, or Ipecac abuse
? Disappearances into the bathroom during or following meals
? Impulsive, immoderate and out of control behaviors beyond the realm of eating, that might include shop lifting, promiscuity, cutting, engaging in chaotic relationships, abuse of substances such as drugs, alcohol, nicotine, diet pills, etc.

There is nothing passive about eating disorders. Always on the move, they are either getting better or you can be certain they are getting worse. Eating disorder recovery can be a long-term process, requiring input from a diverse team of professionals including physicians, psychotherapists, family therapists, nutritionists, psycho pharmacologists and school counselors. The course of recovery will be as variable, must be as comprehensive, and in many ways will feel as convoluted as the course of disease, typically combining outpatient and inpatient treatment milieus and diverse treatment modes. Victims of eating disorders, as young as age 5 or as old as 60, male or female, individuals alone or living within the context of a supportive or not so supportive family system need help to recognize, accept and conquer these diseases'to become capable of reclaiming their lives, proactively, with steadfast commitment? to fight the good fight for life and life quality.

Article Source : Eating Disorder

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Both Pat Roles & Abigail Natenshon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Pat Roles has sinced written about articles on various topics from Eating Disorder. About the Author:Patricia Roles, MSW, RSW, BCATR, is a social worker, art therapist and family therapist who has worked with children, youth and families with eating disorders for 25 years in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She has authored articles in this. Pat Roles's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.

Abigail Natenshon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Eating Disorder. Specializing in the treatment of eating disorders for the past 36 years, Abigail Natenshon, psychotherapist, author of