Mental Health Moment: Eating Disorders
People with eating disorders experience serious conflict in their eating patterns, such as a severe and unhealthy decrease in the food they take in or overeating, as well as extreme concerns about the shape of their body or weight. Eating disorders usually develop during adolescence or early adulthood. Eating disorders are real, treatable illnesses. The two main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Who has eating disorders? According to the National Mental Health of America:
• Women are much more likely than men to develop an eating disorder
• An estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of women suffer from anorexia nervosa in their lifetime;
• An estimated 1.1 to 4.2 percent of women have bulimia nervosa in their lifetime; and
• About 50 percent of people who have had anorexia develop bulimia or bulimic patterns.
There are several main symptoms of eating disorders:
Anorexia Nervosa – Severe weight loss and believing that one is fat despite excessive thinness are key features of anorexia. The following behaviors are signs that a person may have anorexia:
• Skipping meals, taking tiny portions, not eating in front of others, or eating in ritualistic ways;
• Always has an excuse not to eat;
• Eating only a few “safe,” low-calorie, low-fat foods;
• Losing hair, looking pale or malnourished, wearing baggy clothes to hide thinness;
• Losing weight yet fearing obesity and complaining of being fat despite excessive thinness;
• Detesting all or specific parts of their body, insisting she or he cannot feel good about their self unless thin;
• Exercising excessively and compulsively;
• Holding to rigid, perfectionist standards for themselves and others;
• Withdrawing into self and feelings, becoming socially isolated; and/or
• Having trouble talking about feelings, especially anger.
Bulimia Nervosa – People who have bulimia regularly binge-eat and then attempt to prevent gaining weight from their binge through purging (e.g., vomiting, abusing laxatives, exercising excessively). The following are signs of bulimia:
• Binges, usually in secret, and empties cupboards and refrigerator;
• Buys “binge food” (usually junk food or food high in calories, carbohydrates and sugar);
• Leaves clues that suggest discovery is desired: empty food packages; foul-smelling bathrooms; running water to cover sounds of vomiting; use of breath fresheners; poorly hidden containers of vomit;
• Uses laxatives, diet pills, water pills or “natural” products to promote weight loss;
• Abuses alcohol or street drugs to deaden appetite or escape emotional pain; and/or
• Displays a lack of impulse control that can lead to rash and regrettable decisions about sex, money, commitments, careers, etc.
As with most mental illnesses, eating disorders are not caused by just one factor but by a combination of socio-cultural, psychological and biological factors.
Socio-cultural and psychological factors include:
• Low self-esteem;
• Pressures to be thin (i.e., pressure to lose weight from family and friends);
• Cultural norms of attractiveness as promoted by magazines and popular culture;
• Use of food as way of coping with negative emotions;
• Rigid, “black or white” thinking (e.g., “being fat is bad” and “being thin is good”);
• Over-controlling parents who do not allow expression of emotion, and
• History of sexual abuse.
Biological factors include:
• Genetic predisposition to eating disorders, depression, and anxiety;
• Certain personality styles, for example obsessive-compulsive personality type, and
• Deficiency or excess of certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, especially serotonin.
• Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and alcohol/drug addiction are sometimes found in people with eating disorders. Some of these disorders may influence the development of an eating disorder, and some are consequences of it. Many times, eating and co-occurring disorders reinforce each other, creating a vicious cycle.
Left untreated, eating disorders may lead to malnutrition; muscle atrophy; dry skin, hair, and nails; dental problems; insomnia or chronic fatigue; ulcers; low blood pressure; diabetes; anemia; kidney, liver, and pancreas failure; osteoporosis and arthritis; infertility; seizures; heart attack and death.
The most common causes of death are complications of the disorders, including suicide. The mortality rate among people with anorexia is 12 times higher than the death rate among females ages 15 to 24 from all other causes.
Eating disorders are treatable. The sooner they are diagnosed and treated, the better the outcomes are likely to be. Eating disorders require a comprehensive, long-term treatment plan that usually involves individual or family therapy, and that may include medication and even immediate hospitalization.
Unfortunately, many people with eating disorders will not admit they are ill and refuse treatment. Support from family and friends is vital to successful treatment and recovery.
