Any eating disorder can cause serious he alth problems. As a rule, it is based on psychological factors. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of them together with specialists.
Types of problems
Professionals know that an eating disorder can manifest itself in many different ways. Tactics of treatment in each case should be selected individually. It will depend on the established diagnosis and the condition of the patient.
The most popular types of disorders are:
- compulsive overeating;
- bulimia;
- anorexia.
It is not always possible to recognize people who suffer from any of these disorders. For example, with bulimia nervosa, weight may be within the normal range or slightly below the lower limit. At the same time, people themselves do not realize that they have an eating disorder. Treatment, in their opinion, they do not need. Any condition in which a person tries to draw up nutritional rules for himself and strictly adheres to them is dangerous. For example, completeRefusal to eat after 4 p.m., strict restriction or complete rejection of the use of fats, including vegetable origin, should alert.
What to look for: dangerous symptoms
It is not always possible to understand that a person has an eating disorder. The symptoms of this disease must be known. To identify if there are problems, a small test will help. You just need to answer the following questions:
- Do you have a fear of getting fat?
- Do you find yourself thinking too much about food?
- Do you refuse food when you feel hungry?
- Do you count calories?
- Do you cut food into small pieces?
- Do you occasionally have bouts of uncontrolled eating?
- Do you often talk about your thinness?
- Do you have an obsessive desire to lose weight?
- Do you vomit after eating?
- Do you get nausea after eating?
- Are you cutting out fast carbohydrates (baked goods, chocolate)?
- Do you only have diet food on your menu?
- Are people trying to tell you that you could eat more?
If you answered “yes” to these questions more than 5 times, then it is advisable for you to consult a specialist. He will be able to determine the type of disease and choose the most appropriate treatment tactics.
Characteristics of anorexia
Refusal to eat appears in people as a result of mental disorders. Any strict self-restraint, an unusual choice of products are typicalfor anorexia. At the same time, patients have a constant fear that they will recover. In patients with anorexia, the body mass index may be 15% less than the established lower limit of normal. They have a constant fear of obesity. They believe that the weight should be below the norm.
In addition, people suffering from this disease are characterized by the following:
- appearance of amenorrhea in women (lack of menstruation);
- impaired body functioning;
- loss of sex drive.
This eating disorder is often accompanied by:
- taking diuretics and laxatives;
- exclusion from the diet of high-calorie foods;
- vomiting;
- taking medication designed to reduce appetite;
- long and exhausting workouts at home and in the gym to lose weight.
To establish the final diagnosis, the doctor must fully examine the patient. This allows you to exclude other problems that manifest themselves in almost the same way. Only then can treatment be prescribed.
Characteristic signs of bulimia
But people with food-related mental disorders can develop more than just anorexia. Specialists can diagnose a neurogenic disease such as bulimia. In this condition, patients periodically cease to control how much they eat. They have bouts of gluttony. Once binge eating is over, patientsthere is severe discomfort. There is pain in the stomach, nausea, often episodes of overeating end in vomiting. Feelings of guilt for such behavior, self-dislike, and even depression cause this eating disorder. Treatment alone is unlikely to succeed.
To eliminate the consequences of such overeating, patients try to induce vomiting, gastric lavage or taking laxatives. You can suspect the development of this problem if a person is haunted by thoughts about food, he has frequent episodes of overeating, periodically he feels an irresistible craving for food. Often episodes of bulimia alternate with anorexia. If left untreated, this disease can lead to rapid weight loss, but the balance in the body is disturbed. As a result, severe complications occur, and in some cases, death is possible.
Compulsive overeating symptoms
When figuring out how to get rid of an eating disorder, many people forget that such problems are not limited to bulimia and anorexia. Doctors also face such a disease as compulsive overeating. It is similar in its manifestations to bulimia. But the difference is that people suffering from it do not have regular discharges. Such patients do not take laxatives or diuretics, do not induce vomiting.
This disease can alternate between bouts of binge eating and periodsself-restraint in food. Although in most cases between episodes of overeating, people constantly eat a little something. This is what causes significant weight gain. This psychological problem in some may occur only intermittently and be short-term. For example, this is how certain people react to stress, as if eating problems. People who suffer from compulsive overeating use food to find opportunities to enjoy themselves and give themselves new pleasurable sensations.
Reason for the development of deviations
With any malnutrition, one cannot do without the participation of specialists. But help will only be effective if the causes of eating disorders can be identified and addressed.
Most often, the following factors provoke the development of the disease:
- high self-standards and perfectionism;
- having traumatic experiences;
- stress experienced due to ridicule in childhood and adolescence about being overweight;
- low self-esteem;
- trauma from early childhood sexual abuse;
- excessive concern for the figure and appearance in the family;
- genetic predisposition to various eating disorders.
Each of these reasons can lead to the fact that self-perception will be violated. A person, regardless of his appearance, will be ashamed of himself. You can identify people with such problems by the fact that they are not satisfied with themselves, they cannot even talk about their bodies. All failures in lifeblamed on the fact that they have unsatisfactory appearance.
Problems in teenagers
Very often, an eating disorder begins in adolescence. Significant hormonal changes occur in the child's body, his appearance becomes different. At the same time, the psychological situation in the team also changes - at this time it is important for children to look the way they are accepted, not to go beyond the established standards.
Most teenagers are preoccupied with their appearance, and against this background, they may develop various psychological problems. If the family did not devote sufficient time to the development of an objective, adequate self-esteem in the child, did not instill a he althy attitude towards food, then there is a risk that he will develop an eating disorder. In children and adolescents, this disease often develops against a background of low self-esteem. At the same time, they manage to hide everything from their parents for quite a long time.
These problems develop, as a rule, at the age of 11-13 years - during puberty. Such teenagers concentrate all attention on their appearance. For them, this is the only means that allows them to gain self-confidence. Many parents play it safe, fearing that their child has developed an eating disorder. In adolescents, it can be difficult to determine the line between normal preoccupation with appearance and a pathological condition in which it is time to sound the alarm. Parents need to start worrying if they see thatchild:
- trying not to attend events where there will be feasts;
- spends a lot of time exercising to burn calories;
- too dissatisfied with his appearance;
- uses laxatives and diuretics;
- obsessed with weight control;
- too sensitive about calories and portion sizes.
But many parents think that children cannot have an eating disorder. At the same time, they continue to consider their teenagers at 13-15 years old as babies, turning a blind eye to the disease that has arisen.
Possible effects of eating disorders
Don't underestimate the problems these symptoms can cause. After all, they not only adversely affect he alth, but can also cause death. Bulimia, like anorexia, causes dehydration, kidney failure, and heart disease. With frequent vomiting, which leads to a lack of nutrients, the following problems can develop:
- damage to the kidneys and stomach;
- feeling constant abdominal pain;
- development of caries (it starts due to constant exposure to gastric juice);
- lack of potassium (leads to heart problems and can cause death);
- amenorrhea;
- appearance of "hamster" cheeks (due to pathological enlargement of the salivary glands).
With anorexia, the body goes into the so-called starvation mode. This may be evidenced bysigns:
- hair loss, breaking nails;
- anemia;
- amenorrhea in women;
- decrease in heart rate, respiration, blood pressure;
- constant dizziness;
- appearance of hair fluff all over the body;
- development of osteoporosis - a disease characterized by increased bone fragility;
- increasing the size of the joints.
The sooner the disease is diagnosed, the sooner it will be possible to get rid of it. In severe cases, even hospitalization is necessary.
Psychological help
Many people with overt eating disorders think they don't have any problems. But without medical help, it is impossible to correct the situation. After all, it is impossible to independently figure out how to conduct psychotherapy for eating disorders. If the patient resists and refuses treatment, the help of a psychiatrist may be needed. With an integrated approach, a person can be helped to get rid of problems. After all, with severe violations, psychotherapy alone will not be enough. In this case, drug treatment is also prescribed.
Psychotherapy should be aimed at the work of a person on his own image. He must begin to adequately evaluate and accept his body. It is also necessary to correct the attitude towards food. But it is important to work out the reasons that led to such a violation. Professionals who work with people suffering from eating disorders say that their patients are overly sensitive and prone to frequent negative emotions such as anxiety, depression,anger, sadness.
For them, any restriction in food or overeating, excessive physical activity is a way to temporarily alleviate their condition. They need to learn to manage their emotions and feelings, without this they will not be able to overcome an eating disorder. How to treat this disease, you need to deal with a specialist. But the main task of therapy is to form the right lifestyle for the patient.
Worse work to get rid of the problem is for those who have difficult relationships in the family or constant stress in the workplace. Therefore, psychotherapists must also work on relationships with others. The sooner a person realizes that he has a problem, the easier it will be to get rid of it.
Recovery period
The biggest challenge for patients is to develop self-love. They need to learn to perceive themselves as a person. Only with adequate self-esteem can physical condition be restored. Therefore, nutritionists and psychologists (and in some cases psychiatrists) should work on such patients at the same time.
Professionals should help overcome eating disorders. Treatment may include:
- developing a meal plan;
- inclusion in life of adequate physical activity;
- taking antidepressants (only necessary if indicated);
- work on self-perception and relationships with others;
- Treatment for mental disorders such as anxiety.
Importantso that the patient has support during the treatment period. Indeed, often people break down, take breaks in treatment, promise to return to the planned action plan after a certain time. Some even consider themselves cured, even though their eating behavior has hardly changed.
