Eating Disorders

The first one we will look at is Anorexia Nervosa. This is probably the more dangerous of the two. Anorexia nervosa is estimated as affecting as many as one in every 100 girls and young women. In a nutshell anorexia nervosa is a form of intentional self-starvation. The reason for this is that people with anorexia nervosa have an intense fear of gaining weight or getting fat, although not all people living with anorexia have this fear. Anorexia and bulimia are noted, in both men and women, by basically the same traits: self-induced starvation, and an excessive fear of becoming fat even when thin. One of the characteristics of anorexia is to still perceive one’s self to be fat, even when emaciated. Other than drastic weight loss, some of the side effects of anorexia are a person's hair to fall out, fingernails can break off, and a soft hair called lanugo to grow all over the skin.

The other eating disorder is Bulimia Nervosa. Incidentally, bulimia is believed to be two to three times more common than anorexia; but on the other hand it is not generally thought as physically dangerous. The main difference between the two is that people with bulimia don’t avoid eating. And, bulimia is quite easily hidden from others, as the bulimics appear of a normal weight. What a bulimic does is seek to binge and purge on food. What that means is they will eat a large quantity of food in a relatively short period of time and then resort to taking laxatives or self-induced vomiting. The reason behind this is because they feel guilty about what they have eaten. Although it is hard to pick up on, some tell tale signs for family members are that someone with bulimia will make en excuse to go to the bathroom immediately after every meal. One of the side effects of bulimia is that it can cause a person's teeth to decay because of the acids that come up into the mouth while vomiting.

As you can see eating disorders are widespread, and can affect people of all ages and both sexes. More often than not, though, they are more common in adolescent girls and young women. As well as bowing to peer pressure, eating disorders can come about by trying to make your whole life better through food and eating, or not as the case may be. Ultimately, a lot of this is all about seeking approval and through negative attention.. At the end of the day, although anorexia and bulimia are serious, they are also treatable and the patient can get through it with love and support from family members.