HEY!! Long time no see. I missed you guys.today here is something which I never thought I would ever write about, a few months ago I even never believed that anything like eating disorders exist I used to think that it was just being health conscious. This blog is about EATING DISORDERS, this is something most of us ignore also it is not a thing to boast off. During our teenage years we are more focused towards our bodies and want to look like models and actors, in this race we are ready to compromise anything, and the first thing we often mess with is our FOOD. And the worst part is we never admit that something is wrong with our dietary habits.
WHAT IS AN EATING DISORDER?
The term eating in eating disorders is not just limited to food but it has a direct relation to mental health.Eating disorder is basically a mental illness which is all about what food means to you. People with eating disorders tend to have an unhelathy relationship with food, sometimes people tend to eat too much or too less. Sometimes food is taken as a remedy to cope up stress and escape the reality. Over obsession with food is also an indication of eating disorder. Eating disorders carry the highest risk of death of any mental illness.WHAT CAUSES EATING DISORDERS?
Eating disorders may be caused by several factors. These include genetics, brain biology, personality traits, and cultural ideals.There is no specific concept of who is vulnerable to eating disorder. Some people believe that eating disorders develop because of social pressures to be thin. Social pressures could be social media and fashion magazines. Others believe is it is a way to feel in control. Some try to escape the reality and eat up their feelings.Most specialists believe that eating disorders develop because of a mix of psychological, environmental and genetic factors.Psychological factors could be- Being vulnerable to depression and anxiety,
- Finding stress hard to handle,
- Worrying a lot about the future,
- Being a perfectionist,
- Controlling your emotions,
- Having obsessive or compulsive feelings,
- A fear of being fat.
Environmental factors could be:
- Pressure at school,
- Bullying,
- Abuse,
- Criticised for your body shape or eating habits,
- Having difficult family relationships, or
- Having a job or hobby where being thin is seen as ideal. Such as dancing or athletics.
Genetic factors could be:- Changes in the brain or hormone levels, or
- Family history of eating disorders, depression or substance misus
TYPES OF EATING DISORDERS
ANEROXIA NERVOSA
Anorexia nervosa – oftentimes simply called anorexia – is a serious medical and mental health condition that can be life-threatening without treatment. People facing this disorder try to loss weight even though they are underweight alrready.SYMPTOMS OF ANEROXIA NERVOSA- An obsessive fear of weight gain
- Refusal to maintain a healthy body weight
- Distorted body image
- Restricting caloric intake
- Purging calories consumed
Anorexia often occurs alongside other mental illnesses, including:Depression, Anxiety disorders, Mood disorders, Personality disorders,Obsessive compulsive disorders, Substance abuse. When any of these co-occurring mental illnesses are present, they can intensify the sufferer’s symptoms of anorexia and associated health risks.
Anorexia is categorized into two subtypes — the restricting type 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 can make people experience thinning of bones, hairfall,brittle nails and having thin layer of hair all over body. Long practice of this thing can even slow down your metabolism.People with this disorder try to show themselves as super healthy and relectant to accept advice about weight. They may have a drastic change to vagnism, vegetarianism, elimination diet or some other unhealthy practice. they tend to become calorie counters and are obssessed by it. Most of them tend to avoid a particular food group.
When I used to suffer from this I was furious about calorie consumption. I used to count calories of every bit that I ate and then I did eveything to burn that off. For years I said no to junk food, fat and packaged food and then the thing turned onto skipping meals. Even after tons of comments and counselling I didn't leave that but eventually when I realised that something was clearly wrong I tried put on my whole willpower into this and to some extent I am over it. BULIMIA NERVOSA
Bulimia nervosa – better known as "bulimia" – is an eating disorder characterized by patterns of bingeing (consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time) and purging (eliminating calories consumed).Someone suffering from excessive bingeing feeling a lack of self control, puging more than once a week, shame over how much you eat, failing performance in work, self esteem and self worth solely lied to body apperance, fear of gaining weight can be a silent sufferer of bulimia.They fear gaining weight despite being at a normal weight.there are various reasons for developing bulimia. most of it is dependent on genes, other reasons include life transition, traumatic experiences, clean diet lectures from dear ones. Specific health risks of bulimia include:- Cardiac complications (irregular heartbeat and heart failure stemming from electrolyte imbalances)
- DehydrationEdema (stemming from periods of purging cessation)
- Loss of potassium, sodium and chloride from the body
- Ulcers, pancreatitis
- Esophageal inflammation and/rupture (resulting from vomiting)
- “Bulimia teeth” or tooth decay and staining (caused by stomach acids/frequent vomiting)
- Digestive irregularity (chronic irregular bowel movements and constipation, stemming from laxative abuse)
- Fatigue, muscle weakness (from over-exercise)
Risks associated with diabulimia (manipulating insulin for weight loss), including organ damage and peripheral neuropathyAdditionally, bulimic behaviors can disrupt the delicate balance of electrolytes and chemicals that keep vital organs functioning effectively, wreaking havoc on the digestive system.BINGE EATING DISORDER
People going through this typically eat unusually large amounts of food in relatively short periods of time and feel a lack of control during binges.People with binge eating disorder do not restrict calories or use purging behaviors, such as vomiting or excessive exercise, to compensate for their binges. People with any shape or size can have bingeing problem.The clear example of binge eating disorder is patty the lead character in netflix original Insatiable where she used to binge inorder to eat up the feelings and anxiety. Binges can have various causes such as Genetic stimulation, neurological aspects as in losing control over food, A complex set of hormones influences and determines hunger and satiety cues as well as how we feel, think and behave around food. Psychology plays a great role in bingeing like self esteem of a person, feeling of loneliness and inadequatiness, negative body image. Society too has a great significance in dietary habits of a person.
WHAT IS AN EATING DISORDER?
The term eating in eating disorders is not just limited to food but it has a direct relation to mental health.Eating disorder is basically a mental illness which is all about what food means to you. People with eating disorders tend to have an unhelathy relationship with food, sometimes people tend to eat too much or too less. Sometimes food is taken as a remedy to cope up stress and escape the reality. Over obsession with food is also an indication of eating disorder. Eating disorders carry the highest risk of death of any mental illness.
WHAT CAUSES EATING DISORDERS?
Eating disorders may be caused by several factors. These include genetics, brain biology, personality traits, and cultural ideals.
There is no specific concept of who is vulnerable to eating disorder. Some people believe that eating disorders develop because of social pressures to be thin. Social pressures could be social media and fashion magazines. Others believe is it is a way to feel in control. Some try to escape the reality and eat up their feelings.Most specialists believe that eating disorders develop because of a mix of psychological, environmental and genetic factors.
Psychological factors could be
- Being vulnerable to depression and anxiety,
- Finding stress hard to handle,
- Worrying a lot about the future,
- Being a perfectionist,
- Controlling your emotions,
- Having obsessive or compulsive feelings,
- A fear of being fat.
- Pressure at school,
- Bullying,
- Abuse,
- Criticised for your body shape or eating habits,
- Having difficult family relationships, or
- Having a job or hobby where being thin is seen as ideal. Such as dancing or athletics.
Genetic factors could be:
- Changes in the brain or hormone levels, or
- Family history of eating disorders, depression or substance misus
TYPES OF EATING DISORDERS
ANEROXIA NERVOSA
Anorexia nervosa – oftentimes simply called anorexia – is a serious medical and mental health condition that can be life-threatening without treatment. People facing this disorder try to loss weight even though they are underweight alrready.
SYMPTOMS OF ANEROXIA NERVOSA
- An obsessive fear of weight gain
- Refusal to maintain a healthy body weight
- Distorted body image
- Restricting caloric intake
- Purging calories consumed
Anorexia is categorized into two subtypes — the restricting type 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 can make people experience thinning of bones, hairfall,brittle nails and having thin layer of hair all over body. Long practice of this thing can even slow down your metabolism.People with this disorder try to show themselves as super healthy and relectant to accept advice about weight. They may have a drastic change to vagnism, vegetarianism, elimination diet or some other unhealthy practice. they tend to become calorie counters and are obssessed by it. Most of them tend to avoid a particular food group.
When I used to suffer from this I was furious about calorie consumption. I used to count calories of every bit that I ate and then I did eveything to burn that off. For years I said no to junk food, fat and packaged food and then the thing turned onto skipping meals. Even after tons of comments and counselling I didn't leave that but eventually when I realised that something was clearly wrong I tried put on my whole willpower into this and to some extent I am over it.
When I used to suffer from this I was furious about calorie consumption. I used to count calories of every bit that I ate and then I did eveything to burn that off. For years I said no to junk food, fat and packaged food and then the thing turned onto skipping meals. Even after tons of comments and counselling I didn't leave that but eventually when I realised that something was clearly wrong I tried put on my whole willpower into this and to some extent I am over it.
BULIMIA NERVOSA
Bulimia nervosa – better known as "bulimia" – is an eating disorder characterized by patterns of bingeing (consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time) and purging (eliminating calories consumed).
Someone suffering from excessive bingeing feeling a lack of self control, puging more than once a week, shame over how much you eat, failing performance in work, self esteem and self worth solely lied to body apperance, fear of gaining weight can be a silent sufferer of bulimia.They fear gaining weight despite being at a normal weight.there are various reasons for developing bulimia. most of it is dependent on genes, other reasons include life transition, traumatic experiences, clean diet lectures from dear ones.
Specific health risks of bulimia include:
- Cardiac complications (irregular heartbeat and heart failure stemming from electrolyte imbalances)
- DehydrationEdema (stemming from periods of purging cessation)
- Loss of potassium, sodium and chloride from the body
- Ulcers, pancreatitis
- Esophageal inflammation and/rupture (resulting from vomiting)
- “Bulimia teeth” or tooth decay and staining (caused by stomach acids/frequent vomiting)
- Digestive irregularity (chronic irregular bowel movements and constipation, stemming from laxative abuse)
- Fatigue, muscle weakness (from over-exercise)
Risks associated with diabulimia (manipulating insulin for weight loss), including organ damage and peripheral neuropathyAdditionally, bulimic behaviors can disrupt the delicate balance of electrolytes and chemicals that keep vital organs functioning effectively, wreaking havoc on the digestive system.
BINGE EATING DISORDER
People going through this typically eat unusually large amounts of food in relatively short periods of time and feel a lack of control during binges.People with binge eating disorder do not restrict calories or use purging behaviors, such as vomiting or excessive exercise, to compensate for their binges. People with any shape or size can have bingeing problem.SYMPTOMS OF BED- Feelings of distress, such as shame, disgust, or guilt, when thinking about the binge eating behavior
- No use of purging behaviors, such as calorie restriction, vomiting, excessive exercise, or laxative or diuretic use, to compensate for the binging.
Feelings of distress, such as shame, disgust, or guilt, when thinking about the binge eating behavior
No use of purging behaviors, such as calorie restriction, vomiting, excessive exercise, or laxative or diuretic use, to compensate for the binging.
- Eating more rapidly than normal
- Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
- Eating large amounts of food even when not feeling physically hungry
- Eating alone because of feelings of embarrassment stemming from how much one eats
- Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or guilty after eating.
- Feeling a lack of control during episodes of binge eating
Too much bingeing can make one suffer from heart diseases, obesity, bad cholestrol, diabetes, high blood pressure, emotional and mental stress.
PICA
Pica is an eating dosorder which is associated to consumption of items which are not considered food.There is no nutiritional benefit of such items. Some pass through the body without harming the system whereas some harm badly.
SYMPTOMS OF PICA- Stomach Pain
- Upset Stomach
- Bowel Problems
- Blood in stool
- Infections
- Injuries to teeth
- Eating more rapidly than normal
- Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
- Eating large amounts of food even when not feeling physically hungry
- Eating alone because of feelings of embarrassment stemming from how much one eats
- Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or guilty after eating.
- Feeling a lack of control during episodes of binge eating
Too much bingeing can make one suffer from heart diseases, obesity, bad cholestrol, diabetes, high blood pressure, emotional and mental stress.
PICA
Pica is an eating dosorder which is associated to consumption of items which are not considered food.There is no nutiritional benefit of such items. Some pass through the body without harming the system whereas some harm badly.SYMPTOMS OF PICA
- Stomach Pain
- Upset Stomach
- Bowel Problems
- Blood in stool
- Infections
- Injuries to teeth
Individuals with pica crave non-food substances, such as ice, dirt, soil, chalk, soap, paper, hair, cloth, wool, pebbles, laundry detergent, or cornstarch .Pica can occur in adults, as well as children and adolescents. That said, this disorder is most frequently observed in children, pregnant women, and individuals with mental disabilitiesIndividuals with pica may be at an increased risk of poisoning, infections, gut injuries, and nutritional deficiencies. Depending on the substances ingested, pica may be fatal.
This disorder can develop during infancy, childhood, or adulthood. In infants, it tends to develop between 3–12 months of age and often disappears on its own. Children and adults with the condition usually require therapy to resolve it.If not resolved in infants, rumination disorder can result in weight loss and severe malnutrition that can be fatal.Adults with this disorder may restrict the amount of food they eat, especially in public. This may lead them to lose weight and become underweight .
This disorder can develop during infancy, childhood, or adulthood. In infants, it tends to develop between 3–12 months of age and often disappears on its own. Children and adults with the condition usually require therapy to resolve it.
If not resolved in infants, rumination disorder can result in weight loss and severe malnutrition that can be fatal.
Adults with this disorder may restrict the amount of food they eat, especially in public. This may lead them to lose weight and become underweight .
RUMINATION DISORDER
It describes a condition in which a person regurgitates food they have previously chewed and swallowed, re-chews it, and then either re-swallows it or spits it out.
- Avoidance or restriction of food intake that prevents the person from eating sufficient calories or nutrients
- Eating habits that interfere with normal social functions, such as eating with others
- Weight loss or poor development for age and height
- Nutrient deficiencies or dependence on supplements or tube feeding.
ARFID ( AVOIDANT/ RESTRICTIVE FOOD INTAKE DISORDER)
RUMINATION DISORDER
It describes a condition in which a person regurgitates food they have previously chewed and swallowed, re-chews it, and then either re-swallows it or spits it out.- Avoidance or restriction of food intake that prevents the person from eating sufficient calories or nutrients
- Eating habits that interfere with normal social functions, such as eating with others
- Weight loss or poor development for age and height
- Nutrient deficiencies or dependence on supplements or tube feeding.
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is an eating or feeding disturbance that is characterized by a persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs.
SYMPTOMS OF ARFID
Behavioral and psychological
- Dramatic weight loss
- Dresses in layers to hide weight loss or stay warm
- Reports constipation, abdominal pain, cold intolerance, lethargy, and/or excess energy
- Reports consistent, vague gastrointestinal issues (“upset stomach”, feels full, etc.) around mealtimes that have no known cause
- Dramatic restriction in types or amount of food eaten
- Will only eat certain textures of food
- Fears of choking or vomiting
- Lack of appetite or interest in food
- Limited range of preferred foods that becomes narrower over time (i.e., picky eating that progressively worsens).
- No body image disturbance or fear of weight gain
Physical
- Stomach cramps, other non-specific gastrointestinal complaints (constipation, acid reflux, etc.)
- Menstrual irregularities—missing periods or only having a period while on hormonal contraceptives (this is not considered a “true” period)
- Difficulties concentrating
- Abnormal laboratory findings (anemia, low thyroid and hormone levels, low potassium, low blood cell counts, slow heart rate)
- Postpuberty female loses menstrual period
- Dizziness
- Fainting/syncope
- Feeling cold all the time
- Sleep problems
- Dry skin
- Dry and brittle nails
- Fine hair on body (lanugo)
- Thinning of hair on head, dry and brittle hair
- Muscle weakness
- Cold, mottled hands and feet or swelling of feet
- Poor wound healing
- Impaired immune functioning
This can lead to one or more of the following issues:
- Significant weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in a child)
- Significant nutritional deficiency
- Dependence on oral nutritional supplements or enteral feeding (the delivery of a nutritionally complete feed, containing protein, carbohydrate, fat, water, minerals and vitamins, directly into the stomach, duodenum or jejunum)
- Marked interference with psychosocial functioning
ARFID is often associated with a psychiatric co-morbidity, especially anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. The true prevalence of ARFID is unknown, due in large part to a lack of understanding of the diagnosis. We do know that ARFID affects both genders and is more common in children and young adolescents; however, it can occur in late adolescence and adulthood as well.
HOW TO GET OVER THESE DISORDERS?
First of all we need to accept the fact that we are going through some problem rather than considering ourselves as the best dietian. I have suffered from all most every eating disorder since past 6 years I used to simply jump from one of them to another, even now I'm trying to get over AFRID. - It is really onerous to control ones's mind and soul.
- True recovery begines once you listen to your feelings, listen to your body, accept yourself and love yourself.
- Talking to someone who you think might listen to you. If you trust no one to share yoour feelings so don't just eat them pen them down inorder to relieve mental stress.
- Join eating disorder groups and workshops.
- It's always cool to meet a medical health professional for psychological therapy.
- One could meet a dietitian or nutritionist for getting proper education related food.
- Counselling is the best way to survive the situation.
Binge on life. Purge negativity. Starve guilty feelings.
REFERENCE LISTwww.healthline.com
www.rethink.org
www.eatingrecoverycentre.com
HOW TO GET OVER THESE DISORDERS?
First of all we need to accept the fact that we are going through some problem rather than considering ourselves as the best dietian.
I have suffered from all most every eating disorder since past 6 years I used to simply jump from one of them to another, even now I'm trying to get over AFRID.
- It is really onerous to control ones's mind and soul.
- True recovery begines once you listen to your feelings, listen to your body, accept yourself and love yourself.
- Talking to someone who you think might listen to you. If you trust no one to share yoour feelings so don't just eat them pen them down inorder to relieve mental stress.
- Join eating disorder groups and workshops.
- It's always cool to meet a medical health professional for psychological therapy.
- One could meet a dietitian or nutritionist for getting proper education related food.
- Counselling is the best way to survive the situation.
Binge on life. Purge negativity. Starve guilty feelings.
REFERENCE LIST
www.healthline.comwww.rethink.org
www.eatingrecoverycentre.com
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