| An eating disorder is an illness that permeates all aspects of each sufferer's life, is triggered by various emotional factors and influences, and has profound effects on the people suffering and their loved ones. In this article we will take a closer look at Anorexia and Bulimia. People who are having these eating disorders have a low self-esteem and frequently a tremendous need to control their surroundings and emotions.
The eating disorder Anorexia - is a unique reaction to a variety of external and internal conflicts, such as stress, concern, unhappiness and feeling as if life is uncontrolled. A person suffering from Anorexia may be exceedingly sensitive about being fat, or have an intense fear of becoming overweight - although not all people with Anorexia experience this fear. They may fear to lose control of the amount of food they eat, accompanied by the craving to gain stringent control over their emotions and reactions to their emotions. This makes them turn to obsessive dieting and starvation as a means to control not only their weight, but what they feel and how they act. Some also feel that they do not merit the simple pleasures of life, and will avoid situations offering pleasure (including eating).
Some of the behavioral signs can be: calorie and fat gram counting, starvation and restriction of food, obsessive exercise, self-induced vomiting, the use of weight loss solutions, laxatives or diuretics to attempt controlling body weight, and a persistent concern about the body image.
Bulimia sufferers seek episodes of binging and purging - they will consume a large amount of food in a relatively short period and then use behaviors such as winning diuretics or laxatives or self-induced vomiting - because they feel overwhelmed in coping with their emotions, or in order to punish themselves. This can be in direct relation to how they feel about themselves, or about a particular event or series of events in their lives. Those suffering from Bulimia may seek episodes of binging and purging to avoid and let out feelings of anger, depression, tension or anxiety.
Recurring episodes of overeating followed by tremendous guilt and purging (laxatives or self-induced vomiting), a feeling of lacking control over food consumption, engaging in strict diet plans and exercise on a regular basis, the misuse of diuretics or laxatives, and/or weight loss medications and a constant concern about the way they look can all be warning signs somebody is suffering from Bulimia.
The two eating disorders have many similarities, the commonest being the trigger. They are complicated emotional problems. Though they may seem to be nothing more than a dangerously obsessive body weight concern on the surface, for most people suffering from an eating disorder there are deeper emotional conflicts to be handled. |
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