Peter sams asked:


Eating disorders are one of the unspoken secrets that permeate many families. Millions of Americans are afflicted with this disorder every year, and most of them — up to 90 percent — are adolescent and young women. Rarely talked about, an eating disorder can affect up to 5 percent of the population of teenage girls.

Why are adolescent and young women so susceptible to getting an eating disorder? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it is because during this period of time, women are more likely to diet to try and keep a slim figure and/or try stringent dieting. Certain sports (such as gymnastics) and careers (such as modeling) are especially prone to reinforcing the need to keep a fit figure, even if it means purging food or not eating at all.

These eating disorders carry serious health risks and can sometimes result in death. Medical and Dental complications can occur as a result of starvation, vomiting and abuse of exercise. A small but significant number of eating disorder patients die from their disorder, convinced that it is better to starve to death than to be fat. It is vital that eating disordered people receive treatment for their disorders. Appropriate treatment includes medical attention and psychotherapy, both from professionals specializing in eating disorders treatment.

Preventing Eating Disorders

Cognitive-behavioral strategies may help prevent the development of eating disorders in adolescent women, particularly those who are overweight. A 2006 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry reported success with an Internet-based cognitive-behavioral program that targeted at-risk college-age women. The women were taught how to become more comfortable with their body weight and image. The program also provided education on healthy eating and weight management.

Eating Disorder Types

In Anorexia Nervosa, the sufferer shows a desperate fear of weight gain and a desire to be abnormally thin, and severely restricts her diet in an attempt to achieve this. Some sufferers also use excessive exercise and sometimes self-induced vomiting as a means of weight control. This behaviour leads to a wide variety of harmful physical and psychological consequences and can be life-threatening; in fact anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychological illness.

Bulimia is characterized by eating excessive amounts of food in short periods of time,

Usually in secret, and is followed by some form of purging behavior. Most individuals suffering with bulimia realize that their behavior is abnormal and try to keep it a secret. Individuals are either slightly over, or at average body weight.

While bulimia is not as physically harmful as anorexia, the psychological effects can be devastating, leading to depression and even more serious outcomes including ******* in the worst of cases. The physical signs of bulimia which can be observed tend to be related to the purging methods used, and include regularly bloodshot eyes, swollen glands, and dental erosion. In the long term, the dangers include digestive system problems such as ulcers, weakness and exhaustion, and even heart problems.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a type of eating disorder not otherwise specified and is

characterized by recurrent binge eating without the regular use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.

Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by:

1. Frequent episodes of eating large quantities of food in short periods of time.

2. Feeling out of control over eating behavior.



Regina

Rachel Broune 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. This causes dramatic weight fluctuation, interferes with normal daily life, and damages vital body functions. An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects one’s physical and mental health. They affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. Eating disorders are very complex, and despite scientific research to understand them, the biological, behavioral and social underpinnings of these illnesses remain elusive. Eating disorders are serious behavior problems.

An eating disorders are women between the ages of 12 and 25. An eating disorders involve self-critical, negative thoughts and feelings about body weight and food, and eating habits that disrupts normal body function, and daily life activities. It’s common for kids – particularly teens – to be concerned about how they look and to feel self-conscious about their weight. Although eating disorders primarily affect women and girls, boys and men are also vulnerable. One in four preadolescent cases of anorexia occurs in boys, and binge-eating disorder affects females and males about equally. They include Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa and Binge-eating. Eating disorders can cause heart and kidney problems and even death.

Causes of Eating Disorders

Environmental

Psychological

Biological

Academic pressures

Genetic factors

Trauma

Symptoms of Eating Disorders

significant weight loss

regularly buys laxatives

preference to eat in isolation

depression

becomes very thin

physical health complications

swollen glands in the neck and below the jaw

Diagnosis for Eating Disorders

Trying to help a child who doesn’t think he or she needs help can be hard. Remember that it’s not your job to diagnose your child – only a doctor can do that.

Treatment for Eating Disorders

Treatment can include medical supervision, nutritional counseling, and therapy. The professionals try to address a child’s perception about his or her body size, shape, eating, and foods. There are a variety of treatment options available: individual therapy, group therapy, nutritional support, psychiatric care, outpatient, inpatient, residential and we can help you locate these resources. Fluoxetine and other antidepressants may reduce binge-eating episodes and help alleviate depression in some patients. Low mood may be difficult to spot in an uncommunicative teenager, and lack of interest in physical activity is not something most parents worry about in their teenage daughters.

Prevention for Eating Disorders

Parents and other family members are important in helping a person see that his or her normal body shape is perfectly fine and that being excessively thin can be dangerous.

To make sure that your child knows that you love him or her for who she is and what she does, not how she looks.

By reducing or eliminating behaviors or thoughts that lead to disordered eating, and preventing relapse.

Maintaining a regular diary of eating, thoughts and feelings can be helpful.



Kristin

Kevin J Smith asked:


Eating Disorder problems is a major health issues globally. But in America, the mistreatment has exaggerated to an immense level. The illness affects people psychologically and physically. An eating disorder is to consume, or avoid eating, which harmfully affects the person’s physical and mental state. It depends upon the individual’s eating habits that indicate his condition of usual life. This can be explained with the example, if the individual is depressed due to some work related problems feels eating more than usual that might ease his off the stress. Generally eating disorder pessimistically affects the person’s life completely. Recent studies show the percentage of women is more than women.

With the rising rate of eating disorder cases many treatment centers have step into the nation. Treatment depends upon each patient condition simply because each patient gives different respond to the treatment. There are basically three types of eating disorders that is anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Bulimia is the most common eating disorders it mainly shows different pattern of individual responses to the treatment.  So, it is essential to find out the right treatment center.

Eating disorder mainly affects the behavior as the person with any kind of eating disorder experience upset ness, depression, embarrassment. People with eating disorder like to be alone in order to hide their eating habits.

Eating Disorders Treatment might not be easy all the time.  But finding good care and involving in it is rewarding and lifesaving.  Many types of treatments are normally compulsory to deal with eating disorders, as they have psychological, physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms. Due to this reason it pays to have a group of providers who are less probable to miss or ignore part of problem.

Especially, where health is concern people with heath uncertainties require consulting with the counselor who suggests them with some kind of counseling which will help you to overcome the problems.



Joan

peterhutch asked:


Eating disorders are some of the most destructive illnesses today. Although a commonly used term, the meaning is often a source of confusion for many people. Basically, eating disorders happen to people whose diet patterns have gone awry somewhere along the way and ultimately lead to eating habits that are damaging and dangerous.

Eating disorders are a very serious problem, and those suffering from them need to get the proper treatment in order to be able to resume leading normal, healthy lives. Depending on where you live and the severity of the eating disorder, there are various options available for treatment. Those suffering from severe anorexia or bulimia will most likely find an inpatient treatment most beneficial

Eating disorders are characterized by critical disturbances in eating behaviors. A person afflicted with this problem may voluntarily resort to an unhealthy reduction in food intake or may abnormally take in more food than necessary. Feelings of guilt and extreme concern over weight or body shape likewise accompany this malady.

Driven by the compulsive need to avoid weight gain, many eating disorder sufferers consume large quantities of laxatives in order to rid the body of the food they eat. Laxatives are a readily available form of medication normally taken to treat constipation. Indeed, sufferers of bulimia and anorexia often complain about constipation and feeling bloated.

Eating disorders are not a problem with food; however it is a problem with mental health. When a person looks into the mirror, he or she does not like the way they look and think they are fat even though they are stick boney.

Like adults, eating disorders in children are usually a combination of factors – physical and emotional. On one hand, dieting in young children is instrumental in eating disorder development; on the other hand, it can be a method of weight control for obese children. The family eating environment and influence of parents are important factors in childhood eating disorders.

There are eating disorder treatment options which can be used to offset the physical and emotional damage caused by eating disorders. Although common among troubled teens, eating disorders affect women and men of all ages including small children.

Anorexics often have the feeling that calorie intake and weight is the only thing they can control in their lives. Many have very low self esteem and some even feel they don’t deserve to eat. People with anorexia usually won’t seek help for themselves because they fear being forced to eat and get fat. It is possible, however, for anorexia to be treated and cured.

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of repeated bouts of binge eating. A person who is a binge eater has an uncontrollable urge to eat excessive amounts of food. This person will believe that he or she is overweight even when they are not. Some of these people induce vomiting, also known as purging, or use laxatives or diuretics to get rid of all of the food that was eaten during binging. Other people might fast and/or exercise excessively instead.



George