David Karlson asked:


Treating eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating can overlap one another because the causes can be quite similar for any eating problem. These disorders are growing across the country.

Anorexia and bulimia are psychological problems that are manifested by the numerous social influences pushed on women that require them to be thin like a supermodel. Binge eating can sometimes be attributed to issues of not being able to cope with stress or life changes.

There are many ways of treating eating disorders. However, it can be quite difficult to overcome a disorder if this type. In most cases, the sufferer cannot overcome the problem on their own. The most important step is that the individual must talk to someone and seek some form of treatment. The treatment may involve admission to a clinic, taking part in support groups and consultation with a psychotherapist or psychologist.

When treating eating disorders, many experts recommend that both the psychological and physical issues be treated at the same time. Experts also recommend that sufferers of anorexia or bulimia start eating small amounts of fruits and vegetables along with adding a small amount of protein to their diet. Food that is high in zinc is also a good idea as it can help to stimulate the individual’s appetite.

When treating eating disorders, experts usually find out that the problem was attributed to such things as low self-esteem, sexual abuse, peer pressure, lonely, inferiority complex or other forms of abuse. Some experts also believe that a lack of zinc in the diet can lead to an eating disorder.

Treating eating disorders is very important because often these problems start out as psychological problems but will quickly advance into a serious medical condition from either over eating or not eating enough at all.

In conclusion, treating eating disorders is a process that usually involves being treated for a psychological condition. It is not easily treatable but it can be treated successfully over time.



Julio

Melanie Dawn asked:


I’ve spent the past 10 years recovering from an eating disorder and currently I feel like I am in a beautiful time of my life. Why do I feel my life is beautiful, you might ask? For the first time that I can remember, I am not obsessed with eating disordered rituals. I don’t feel like I need to explain those eating disordered rituals to you. If you’ve ever had an eating disorder, or known someone with an eating disorder, then you know what eating disorder rituals are. If you have never had an eating disorder and you want to know what eating disorder rituals are, go to www.google.com and do a quick search on the internet for “eating disorder symptoms”. You are apt to find an array of information regarding whether or not you or one of your friends have an eating disorder. Another place you can go is www.somethingfishy.org, a site geared for eating disorder resources and recovery information. What you’re not likely to find, is information on eating disorder recovery.

Not being able to find resources on recovery is a problem, a huge problem that is ignored by writers and researchers alike. The only people that appear to have an answer to my question are eating disorder recovery clinics. Many eating disorder recovery clinics state that they have programs for eating disorder recovery, what they do not provide is a definition for what eating disorder recovery is?

After spending large amounts of money and time on therapists, eating disorder programs and books, I have formulated a conclusion. My conclusion is that there is no formal definition for eating disorder recovery and that is why clinics can profess that they offer eating disorder recovery. A common problem I faced in my eating disorder recovery is that I would spend time and money on treatment and then my insurance company, Western Health Advantage or Pacificare, would inform me that I was recovered. The reason these insurance companies believed that I was recovered is because while I was at the hospital under extreme behavioral modification and under surveillance by health care professionals, I was not exhibiting eating disorder behaviors. What my insurance company did not take into account is that the moment I walked out of the hospital, the eating disordered behaviors magically resurfaced. They did not resurface because I was a loser that didn’t want to recover, but they resurfaced because I did not have the skills required for recovery. I wanted to recover more than anything else in the world, but there was a roadblock that continually stood in my way, I did not know what recovery looked like; I knew what an eating disorder looked like, but I did not know what being without an eating disorder looked like. After nine years of eating disorder treatment (in addition to more than a decade of eating disordered behaviors before recovery), I am finally starting to understand what recovery is. For this reason, I want to share my discovery with the world. I want to provide women and men that are struggling with an eating disorder, an example, a picture of recovery.



Ruben

SeaYouAtTheBeach asked:


What are the statistics of girls with eating disorders? How many of them that start dieting at age 13-14 get an eating disorder? What percent?
Maybe I should have put it this way: What are the chances of a person who started dieting at age 13 getting an eating disorder? i.e.(this isn’t true but just an example of the kind of answer I’m looking for)—20% of people who start dieting at age 13 get an eating disorder…

Marion

Future Teacher asked:


I am going to start seeing an eating disorder specialist next week and eventually do a partial hospitalization program possibly. How hard is it to recover from anorexia or an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS)? Does the therapy really help? What exactly happens in treatment that helps? Do they make you force yourself to eat?

Roger

Juliet Cohen asked:


Eating disorders are not due to a failure of will or behavior. Eating disorder is a complex compulsion to eat, or not eat, in a way which disturbs physical and mental health. A person with anorexia nervosa typically starves himself or herself to be thin and experiences excessive weight loss. In some cases of anorexia, in addition to restricting their food intake kids use purging – by vomiting or taking laxatives – to control their weight. Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders. The most heard about eating disorders are Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa. The most widely and rapidly spreading eating disorder is compulsive overeating or Binge eating disorder.

Females are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. Bulimia is characterized by habitual binge eating and purging. A child with bulimia may experience weight fluctuations. Anorexia may affect a child’s growth, bone mass, cause puberty delays, an irregular heartbeat and blood pressure problems, and gastrointestinal problems. People with anorexia may repeatedly check their body weight, and many engage in other techniques to control their weight, such as intense and compulsive exercise, or purging by means of vomiting and abuse of laxatives, enemas, and diuretics. Physical symptoms of compulsive overeating and binge eating can include weight gain, excessive sweating and shortness of breath.

Many more girls and women suffer from unhealthy eating behavior and negative body image. Anorexia among men is on the rise. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder affecting mainly young women, although men can also suffer from it. Promoting exercise and healthy eating habits as a matter of health and being in shape is one thing; relying on fad diets, miracle drinks, shakes. Body image includes many things. Men are also more likely than women to suffer from excessive exercising. Unfortunately, college campuses can be breeding grounds for eating problems, as they often promote distorted ideals of beauty at a time when women and men are vulnerable to the pressures of success and acceptance.

Eating Disorders Prevention and Treatment Tips

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – emphasizes the relationship between thoughts.

2. Interpersonal therapy – focuses on addressing difficult relationships with others

3. Rational Emotive Therapy focuses on a person’s unhelpful beliefs

4. Group therapy provides a supportive network of people who have similar eating disorders.

5. Family therapy usually involves those who live with the person with the eating disorder

6. Alternative therapies include such approaches as naturopathy, acupuncture, aromatherapy, meditation, and homeopathy.



Clinton

Cindy Heller asked:


The earlier a person with a meticulous type of eating disorder is diagnosed and treatment is begun, the sooner their weight can be restored to a normal level for their age and height.

What causes a particular type of eating disorder to manifest itself from the occasional suffering realized by a good number of the population into a serious illness is a subject still unlock to debate among professionals. One true fact that is agreed upon, however, is that regardless of what type of eating disorder is being suffered, they are all dangerous.

Two of the common disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have been classified as illnesses, whereas the third type of eating disorder, binge eating, falls into the group of dangerous and possibly uncontrollable, but has not been classified as an illness.

The special effects of anorexia nervosa are obvious as the person loses so much weight they may perhaps appear to have paper-thin skin stretched over their bones. People suffering this type of eating disorder strongly believe that they are still overweight no matter how little they weigh and strive only to lose more weight.

Some consider binge eating may be a predecessor to bulimia nervosa and should also be classified as a type of eating disorder illness, as people will tend to eat even when they don’t feel hungry. They feel the necessary to ingest food to the point that no more could possibly fit. They may then feel sickened with themselves and eat more to comfort themselves.

Bulimia nervosa sufferers will as well eat large portions of food, but with this type of eating disorder they will eliminate themselves following binge eating episodes. By means of diuretic or abusing laxatives helps them get relieve of the food they just ate, as does intentional vomiting, making the effects of this type of eating disorder less noticeable.

Since they get rid of the overindulgence food, their weight usually does not usually show as with a person who does not purge, their loss of indispensable vitamins and minerals that can make this a dangerous type of eating disorder just the same as anorexia nervosa. Any form of eating disorder is treatable and the sooner the better.

What is Known As The Nighttime Eating Disorder?

There are numerous different types of eating disorders, and one of these especially is that of the nighttime eating disorder. The nighttime eating disorder is a condition which is characterized by a lack of appetite in the morning and then a problem of overeating at night.

The nighttime eating disorder is dissimilar from other eating disorders such as binge-eating and bulimia; individuals with the nighttime eating disorder devour relatively small snacks at night but far more often whereas individuals who suffer from binge-eating or bulimia have very large and infrequent binges.

There are handling methods that can be used in regards to this eating disorder, and this treatment would involve such things as counseling and making sure to pay attention to your own detailed medical and nutritional needs. As well, consider that the treatment should be tailored to the individual and will be different according to both the severity of the disorder and in regards to the patient’s particular problems, needs, and strengths.

What is a Pica Eating Disorder?

A pica eating disorder is an eating disorder which is characteristically defined as the constant eating of nonnutritive substances for a period of at least one month at an age in which this type of behavior is developmentally improper, for instance a toddler. Fundamentally the pica eating disorder definition is sporadically broadened in order to include the mouthing of nonnutritive substances as well.

Besides, a pica eating disorder can include the ingesting of many unusual substances, such as: clay, dirt, sand, stones, pebbles, hair, feces, lead, laundry starch, pencil erasers, ice, fingernails, paper, paint chips, coal, wood, plaster, light bulbs, needles, and string for example.

This disorder is considered as being a severe behavioral problem, in that it can result in significant medical squeal. It has also revealed to be a truly predisposing factor in regards to accidental ingestion of stuff such as poisons, for the most part in reference to lead poisoning, for instance.

This eating disorder is extremely unknown, in particular when compared to the other eating disorders; in the United States, for example, prevalence of this eating disorder is unknown because the disorder often is unrecognized and underreported; also, studies have shown that children with mental retardation and autism are affected more commonly than children without these conditions, and among those individuals with mental retardation, this eating disorder is actually the most common.

This is an eating disorder which is present all through the world, and lead toxicity is the most generally reported type of poisoning in regards to this disorder. Ingestion of high doses of lead can affect that of significant intellectual impairment as well as behavioral

And learning problems and studies have also shown that neuropsychological dysfunction and deficits in neurologic development can in fact consequence from very low lead levels, even levels that were once believed to be safe.



Carrie

Corwin Brown asked:


Eating disorders afflict millions of people, thousands of which will die from them yearly. There is good news though, eating disorders can be beaten. You do not have to be a prisoner to this anymore. You have the power within yourself to beat this and you will. Recovery takes a lot of time and hard work, but in the end it is all worth it. You will finally be free and you will love yourself. When recovery happens you will be able to look in the mirror and say, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all” and it will be you

A person with an eating disorder may have started out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food than usual, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spirals out of control. Eating disorders are very complex, and despite scientific research to understand them, the biological, behavioral and social underpinnings of these illnesses remain elusive.

Up to 10 million teens develop eating disorders, abnormal attitudes and behaviors with foods, which include anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. For most kids, eating disorders begin when they are 11 to 13 years old. While they are more common among girls, boys can experience eating disorders too. Unfortunately, many kids and teens successfully hide these disorders from their families for months or years.

Women are more likely than men to have eating disorders. They usually start in the teenage years and often occur along with depression, anxiety disorders and substance abuse.

Some research suggests that media images contribute to the rise in the incidence of eating disorders. Most women in advertising, movies, TV, and sports programs are very thin, and this may lead girls to think that the ideal of beauty is thinness. Boys, too, may try to emulate a media ideal by drastically restricting their eating and compulsively exercising.

Eating disorders frequently appear during adolescence or young adulthood, but some reports indicate that they can develop during childhood or later in adulthood. Women and girls are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. Men and boys account for an estimated 5 to 15 percent of patients with anorexia or bulimia and an estimated 35 percent of those with binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are real, treatable medical illnesses with complex underlying psychological and biological causes.

Eating disorders are more common in cultures focused on weight loss and body image. Body dissatisfaction and dieting may lead to unhealthy and dangerous eating behaviors. Sometimes, these eating patterns can lead to eating disorders. Fortunately, there has been an increased awareness about these types of illnesses. Eating disorders are treatable.

Anorexia can slow the heart rate and lower blood pressure, increasing the chance of heart failure. Those who use drugs to stimulate vomiting, bowel movements, or ********* are also at high risk for heart failure. Starvation can also lead to heart failure, as well as damage the brain. Anorexia may also cause hair and nails to grow brittle. Skin may dry out, become yellow, and develop a covering of soft hair called lanugo. Mild anemia, swollen joints, reduced muscle mass, and light-headedness also commonly occur as a consequence of this eating disorder. Severe cases of anorexia can lead to brittle bones that break easily as a result of calcium loss.



Charlene

Mad Season asked:


How did your family react to you when you told them you have an eating disorder? How old were you? How did you deal with their reaction?
In response to the first answer: many people successfully hide their disorder for months, and sometimes years. And, eventually, many people seek help. I’m just curious how it was for them when it came to that time.

Anita

Paula asked:


I have an eating disorder. I really really really want to tell someone but i don’t know who to tell. Im not telling my parents. I am 13 and in 8th grade. Who should i tell? Should i tell a teacher of the schools guidance consular? How should i tell them?

Rafael

Lady Phantom asked:


This is for a school project, and I can’t find a site that will tell me how many people die from an eating disorder every year. If anyone knows the answer to this, then post it here. Even if it’s only for anorexia or bulimia, or if it’s only a stat. for the USA, then post it here. I would like a stat. for Canada more though.

Marcus