Learning The Consequences Of The Various Eating Disorders
Many people confuse eating disorders with strict dieting
, but they are not the same thing at all. They are caused by mental and emotional problems and cause the sufferer to experience feelings of low self worth which will in turn effect their behaviour towards everyday life and their friends and family. The most well know of all these disorders is Anorexia Nervosa. The name itself means 'a lack of desire to eat'. People who have Anorexia Nervosa experience obsessive feelings of self loathing. The only time they feel good about themselves is when they are starving. No matter how thin an anorexic becomes, their body dimorphic disorder is so strong they still believe themselves to be fat. The next most common disorder is Bulimia Nervosa, it has many similarities with Anorexia but in this condition sufferers do not avoid food, they eat and then they purge. Purging means deliberately eliminating the food from the body before it has had time to be digested properly by means of either laxatives or self induced vomiting. Bulimics weight gain tends to go from one extreme to another, which is commonly called yo-yo dieting. Compulsive Eating Disorder is another similar but different illness. In this condition the sufferers are classed as having an addiction to food and using it as a means to close themselves off from their worries and the outside world. People who suffer from Compulsive Eating Disorder tend to eat obsessively until they are dangerously overweight. Conditions such as heart attacks and strokes are liable to be a cause for real concern amongst sufferers due to high cholesterol in their diets. Binge Eating Disorder is another closely related illness with the sufferer showing the same symptoms of low self esteem as in all the previously mentioned disorders. Binge eating is most closely linked to Compulsive Eating Disorder and shares many of the same features except it is done with less frequency. Binge eaters are exceptionally secretive and store food away purposely to eat when they can be by themselves. They will eat uncomfortable amounts to the point they feel sick but will not make themselves sick. The feelings of guilt and shame associated with eating such vast quantities of food are often used as self inflicted punishment as they consider themselves undeserving and unworthy.
Learning The Consequences Of The Various Eating Disorders