Eating Disorders: Most Common and Possible Solutions

Eating disorders, especially among women, have continued to steadily rise. Particularly young women with impressionable minds get confused with everything they see in society nowadays. While there has been a movement for women to be comfortable in their skin, with their weight, and more full-figured women have risen to become sources of inspiration, popular culture still espouses the ideal of stick-figured women everywhere. From television shows to fashion magazines, actresses and models with thin physiques continue to get glamorized, and thus set a standard for women that they should be of a small size to be beautiful.

What these women do not know is that for models and actresses to achieve that physique, they employ the help of a team of fitness professionals, nutritionists, stylists, and others to look that good. When a teenager in small-town America wants to look like her favorite size-2 actress and has no means to have her own trainer and chef, what does she do? Starve herself to her goal weight or expel whatever they eat and lose the unnecessary pounds. This is when eating disorders start.

What people should know is that an eating disorder is actually different from following a diet scheme. It may happen that someone following a rigid diet program may fall into an eating disorder, but they are not exactly the same all of the time. Eating disorders are illnesses that include all facets of a person?s life and are usually caused by psychological factors. Dieting programs, at least the healthy ones, are only about losing weight healthily.

With eating disorders, the sufferer ultimately becomes obsessed with his or her own eating habits. Eating and food, or the lack of them, is something he or she is particular about that they develop unhealthy habits about them ? from measuring what they eat down to the last ounce, throwing up what they eat, eating too much only to expel it or throw it up, or not eating at all.

Anorexia nervosa

This condition is suffered by people who starve themselves intentionally. This disorder usually starts with people as young as 13, or on the onset of puberty. Sufferers experience drastic weight loss, down to 15 or even 20% under the prescribed normal body weight. Even if an anorexia sufferer already looks emaciated, he or she still believes he or she is overweight. People with anorexia are usually restrictive patients, meaning they do not eat any food so they can continue to be bone thin.

The most common treatment for people with anorexia is psychotherapy. This treatment aims not only to cure the patient from the eating disorder, but also to improve their overall mental well-being. After all, most experts believe that anorexia stems from a deeper psychological problem. For medical solutions, doctors may prescribe antidepressants, as people with anorexia are oftentimes also diagnosed with depression.

Bulimia

People with bulimia eat a lot, and exert every effort to get rid of everything they have eaten. These sufferers often feel deprived, which is why they consume a lot of food, only to feel guilty afterward, which is why they try to get rid of anything they have taken.

Bulimic patients can be classified as purging and non-purging. Purging bulimic patients may engage in self-inducing vomiting, or the use of diuretics, laxatives or enemas to get rid of the food they have eaten. Non-purging bulimic patients may engage in inappropriate behaviours such as excessive exercise to get rid of what they ate, or starving for days after feasting on one day.

To cure bulimic patients, cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT is recommended, so they may change their attitude towards food. This usually lasts for four months. Antidepressants and nutritional counselling are also utilized. This condition needs to be stopped as soon as possible, especially for purging bulimics, as self-induced vomiting or overuse of laxatives may cause complications in the gastro-intestinal tract, causing more health problems.

Binge Eating

Binge eating is an eating disorder that causes obesity instead of dangerous slenderness. People suffering from this condition may eat faster than usual, eat until they are overly full, or eat large amounts of food even though they are not hungry. However, unlike bulimic patients, they do not purge or do anything to get rid of what they eat, causing them to gain so much weight.

Therapy that makes the patient change his or her perspective about food is still the most effective way to cure this condition. Anti-depressants may also be recommended for those who engage in binge eating because of emotional problems.

Eating disorders can be cured, but the detection of the condition should happen as soon as possible, for complications to be avoided. This is why people should know the signs and symptoms in patients suffering from eating disorders.

If you are practicing these unhealthy habits or know someone who is; go seek or recommend to them to see a physician as soon as possible. There is a healthier way of losing weight and that is what you or they should focus on to get long lasting results.

Have a healthy Day!

Axel Mercado MPH, PA-C

Health and Fitness Coach

image credit: technorati.com

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Source: http://www.healthandfitnessemporium.com/eating-disorders-most-common-and-possible-solutions/

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