Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders

When we talk about eating disorders, we are not necessarily talking about skipping a meal to try to lose a little weight. Most of the time, eating disorders center around extremes in both directions, either overeating or not eating enough. Whether it is excessive eating or starving themselves, people who deal with eating disorders have a host of other problems that come about as a result of their eating disorder. The good news is that for a lot of people, it is a mental problem that can be overcome with therapy and counseling.

Common Eating Disorders

Most people who have a problem with food and eating deal with one of these three major eating disorders.

• Anorexia Nervosa - This can be most easily explained as someone having a relentless desire to lose weight. To people who are afflicted with anorexia, there is no such thing as too thin. This is a problem for many reasons. While the body can go without food, it is supposed to get a certain amount of food each day to operate most effectively. When people starve themselves, they deny their body the essentials of life, which has drastic effects on the body.
  
• Bulimia Nervosa - People who suffer from this eating disorder generally go through two distinct phases. In the first "binge" phase they will overeat, taking in extreme amounts of food, usually a lot of food that is considered bad for you. To make up for this, they go through a second "purge" phase where they use various methods to expel the massive amounts of food from their body.
  
• Binge Eating Disorder - When someone goes through a succession of the bulimia nervosa stages and finds it hard to stop the cycle, it is commonly referred to as binge eating disorder.

Other Eating Disorders

While those mentioned above are the more common types of eating disorders that affect people, there are actually quite a few other varieties that are more rare but just as serious to recognize and get help with. From Trichophagia (eating hair) to Geophagia (eating soil) there is a wide variety of eating problems that people face besides the three types that are most common.

Treating Eating Disorders

Some doctors prescribe antidepressants to help with eating disorders, but there are many potential side effects with taking SSRIs and other antidepressants. For many people, a combination of counselling and group therapy. If you want a more private way to treat your problems with eating, there are other roads you can travel. For one, online therapy has been able to help many people, allowing them to save money while getting the treatment and support they need to kick their eating disorder and resume a normal life.

Definition of Eating Disorders

An eating disorder can be defined as an extreme when it comes to food - either eating too much, not eating enough, or eating too much and purging food through vomiting, laxatives or other methods. The problem is one that affects both men and women of all ages.

Symptoms of / Reasons for Eating Disorders

• Brittle bones
• Dry yellow skin
• Severe constipation
• Sore and inflamed throat
• Loss of tooth enamel
• Intestinal distress
• Obesity
• Depression
• Anxiety