Eating Disorders: What are the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment for the Eating Disorders of Anorexia and Bulimia?

What are the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment for the Eating Disorders of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder?

Symptoms include feeling fat, having a distorted body image, feeling a need to confirm, and rigid thinking.

Anorexics fast, starve themselves and exercise a lot. They look emaciated and thin. Anorexics have a distorted body image.

Bulimics look more like regular people. They binge- eat a lot and then purge- make themselves throw up manually, or with diuretics and laxatives. They get rotten teeth and raccoon cheeks due to the acid from constant throwing up.

People with eating disorders don't realize they have a problem.

Anorexics are emaciated with seeming indifference.

There are dangerous side effects to eating disorders.

Amenorrhea is the stopping of menstrual periods when the person is too thin.

Eating disorders usually start in the teens.

Usually, the person faints, the heart rhythm goes down, they are taken to the hospital and get treated.

Princess Diana had an eating disorder.

When the weight goes down too much, the body functions stop working.

William Gull coined the term "Anorexia Nervosa" to describe emaciation and indifference of women to their poor health and a "relentless pursuit of thinness".

People with eating disorders care more about other people's thoughts, conforming, and tend to be rigid in their evaluations of people.

They have a "dichotomous" thinking style, where most things are viewed as either all good or all bad.

They are afraid of losing control of their bodies.

Anita Johnston wrote a book called "Eating In The Light Of The Moon" which can help with preventing and overcoming eating disorders.

"Purging" is the term used for self induced vomiting, as well as the use of diuretics or laxatives.

Non-purging eating disorders include extreme fasting and extreme exercise.

Anorexics usually look emaciated and very thin, like a concentration camp survivor.

Bulimics could look like regular people.

Binge disorder is the term for those that engage in binging but not purging.

Binge eating is not completely recognized in the DSM IV. Further study is to be done on it.

Normal people binge sometimes- for example during holidays and stressful situations.

A disorder becomes a disorder when it interacts with life.

Causes can include difficulty coping with emotions, a rigid style of thinking, and overprotective families.

Teenagers may do it to show that they can control something in their lives.

Eating Disorders can also be caused by peer pressure, pressure from the media, and feeling a tremendous need to fit in and be accepted.

We are bombarded by the media, and most models are thin, although Marilyn Monroe was a size 14, but nowadays most models are much thinner.

According to some theories, your relationship with food symbolizes things. It can be associated with mother's breast milk, since that is generally a person's first relationship with food.

Many women eat when they are upset, or to stuff their feelings down, or don't eat because they might have a hypothalamus problem, such as lower functioning in the hypothalamus which controls appetite.

Sexual abuse is a risk factor.

Genetics can also cause a disregulation of hormones.

Obesity has increased since the 1900's with the use of more machines and cars, resulting in less physical activity.

More than 20% of Americans are overweight.

If an overweight person would lose 10% of their fat, it could do wonders for their health.

People should try for a reasonable weight, not look to be ideal or perfect.

A lot of diets are not good.

People need a good exercise program and healthy eating habits, and all body systems working properly.

Eating Disorders are difficult to treat.

The affected person is usually in denial of their problem, and they think of themselves as fat.

There is a 15% death rate in people with anorexia.

Behavior therapy and family therapy help anorexics.

Talking and understanding what's going on is important.

For bulimia, cognitive behavior therapy helps as much as drugs.

Often people with eating disorders don't get help until they faint or have a big problem and then they get rushed to the hospital and treated.

Treatment would usually include putting them in a facility away from their family where they have therapy.

They learn to understand what is happening and are taught healthy thinking styles and healthy eating patterns.

Family therapy is also helpful.