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Let's
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EATING
DISORDERS
Severely
limiting what you eat, vomiting on purpose, exercising
too much, constantly thinking about being overweight
and abusing diet pills and laxatives is unhealthy. People
who use these methods to lose or control their weight
often have an eating disorder.
Eating disorders can be divided into two main categories.
The first is called anorexia nervosa, which involves
limiting what you eat. The second category is called
bulimia, which involves eating large amounts of food
(binging) followed by an urgent need to vomit (purging).
The combination of overeating without purging and exercising
too much to control weight also can be an eating disorder,
although it doesn't exactly fit the categories of anorexia
nervosa or bulimia. Certain types of overeating also
may require medical treatment.
More than 5 million people in the United States have
an eating disorder. Most are women, but some men also
develop eating disorders. Many young people are powerfully
influenced by our culture's belief that "thin is
beautiful" and this can encourage the development
of eating disorders. Others develop eating disorders
because they feel their weight is the only thing in
their lives they can control.
WHAT
ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF AN EATING DISORDER?
Some
signs of an eating disorder include:
- Refusal
to maintain weight at a normal weight for height and
age
- Intense
fear of weight gain
- Unrealistic
or distorted ideas about how one's body looks
- Strange
behavior around meals, including rituals
- Missing
menstrual periods
- Withdrawing
emotionally from people
- Anxiety
around meal times
- Binging
(eating large amounts of food very rapidly)
- Purging
(getting rid of food by vomiting, excessive exercising
or using laxatives or diuretics)
HOW
ARE EATING DISORDERS TREATED?
People with eating disorders need emotional support
and psychotherapy to overcome their condition. Often,
nutritional counseling and medications also are used.
Treatment always should include seeing a psychiatrist.
Psychotherapy is a series of private talks with a psychiatrist
where a person discusses the feelings, thoughts and
behavior that cause difficulty. The goal of psychotherapy
is to help people understand and master their problems
so they can function better. Psychotherapy can help
people with eating disorders understand why they limit
their food intake or why they binge and/or purge. This
understanding can lead to healthier attitudes about
food.
Most people with an eating disorder can be helped in
an outpatient program. People with severe or life-threatening
eating disorders may need to be treated in a hospital.
FIND
MORE INFORMATION…
© Copyright 2001 Medem™, Inc. and the American
Psychiatric Association
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