What is Anorexia Nervosa? Why do people get it?
Anorexia is a Greek word for "loss of appetite". Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by a person's refusal to maintain a healthy body weight. Someone with anorexia has and excessive fear of gaining weight and has a distorted perception of the way their body looks. Some studies suggest that a person's biology or genetic make up may predispose them to this disorder. Other's point to society's promotion of a thin body as the ideal female. People with this disorder have trouble eating healthy. Anorexia has been viewed as developmental problems, over anxiety, pressure to conform to unrealistic physical ideals or genetically hard wired. It is a mental illness defined by an obsession with food and acute anxiety over gaining weight. The media tells people that an attractive woman is a skinny woman. Many kids affected by pressure-cooker school environment and a culture of thinness promoted by magazines and music videos. Many get the disorder because of the culture they live in. There are two types of anorexia. One is when people severely restrict their calorie intake. Sometimes it's only a few hundred each day or only water. This type is called the restrictive type. The other type of anorexics is called the binge eating or purging type. This type forces themselves to throw up because they feel they have eaten something they shouldn't have or they couldn't help but eat. This is the most dangerous type. Doctors now compare anorexia to alcoholism and depression. It is a fatal disease that may be set off by environmental factory such as stress or trauma.
Symptoms/ warning signs of anorexia nervosa.
There are many warning signs to anorexia and a lot of them can be easily spotted.
-People with anorexia are often times delusional
-They are weak with hunger but feel full making it physically uncomfortable to swallow
-They hear admonishing voices when they do manage to swallow
-They exercise compulsively
-Deliberate self starvation with weight loss
-Intense, persistent fear of gaining weight
-Refusal to eat or highly restrictive eating
-Continuous dieting
-Excessive facial/body hair because of inadequate protein in the diet
-Abnormal weight loss
-Sensitivity to cold
-Absent or irregular menstruation
-Hair loss
-People with anorexia are often times delusional
-They are weak with hunger but feel full making it physically uncomfortable to swallow
-They hear admonishing voices when they do manage to swallow
-They exercise compulsively
-Deliberate self starvation with weight loss
-Intense, persistent fear of gaining weight
-Refusal to eat or highly restrictive eating
-Continuous dieting
-Excessive facial/body hair because of inadequate protein in the diet
-Abnormal weight loss
-Sensitivity to cold
-Absent or irregular menstruation
-Hair loss
Treatments for anorexia nervosa
Treatment for anorexia, like any other eating disorder, is challenging. Effective treatment addresses the underlying emotional and mental issues. Inaccurate self-image can be devastating. Some people with anorexia can be in "denial." This means they deny that they even have a problem. Part of the challenge with treatment is getting the person with anorexia to admit and realize they have a serious issue. Every treatment begins with seeing an eating disorder specialist.
One treatment for anorexia is psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is the most common treatment. It also has the most research behind it. It needs a significant amount of time and is a big financial commitment, especially if you are dealing with other issues. Psychotherapy is not only helpful in addressing your disordered eating but also your overall emotional heath and happiness. The focus of psychotherapy is to address the underlying emotional and cognitive issues that result in the disordered eating.
Another treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. CBT is considered to be the treatment of choice for people with anorexia. It has the support of decades worth of research. It is time-limited and focused approach that helps a person understand how their negative self-talk and self-image can directly impact their eating and negative behaviors. CBT will focus on identifying and changing dysfunctional thought patterns, attitudes and beliefs, which may cause a person's restrictive eating. The person with anorexia will go into treatment for a certain amount of time with a goal in mind. It can be done in an outpatient or inpatient setting. Preliminary evidence suggests that CBT may reduce relapse risk after weight is regained, for adults.
Another form of treatment is family therapy. Family therapy helps someone with anorexia realize how dysfunctional of a role they play in the family because of their eating disorder. Most of the time family therapy is conducted with the person with anorexia and their family but sometimes it involves sessions without the person with anorexia. Doing this helps the family understand the role they play in supporting the disordered eating and gives ways the family may help the person with disordered eating realize they have a problem and help the seek out help.
There are no medications that can help anorexia. After a complete medical exam and workup a physician will prescribe medication that will treat any medical problems, like electrolyte abnormalities or abnormal heart rhythms. Many people with anorexia also have depression, so often times they will be prescribed an antidepressant. Also estrogen will need to be taken. Women with anorexia are at high risk for fractures. Not having periods due to low body weight puts them in a state like early menopause.
There are residential treatment facilities for anorexia. This is a place where all of the above treatments are available. They are located throughout the United States and in many other countries. They focus on treating all types of eating disorders. They help a person learn all of the necessary skills and put them into daily practice in a safe, relaxing environment. These kinds of treatments may be paid for by and individual's private health insurance, for a certain period of time.
There is also hospitalization for anorexia. This is often used in cases where a person with anorexia is severely ill and has a relapse from baseline weight, or is below 15% of appropriate body weight, or the individual had other serious medical issues. During these visits people with anorexia are encouraged to eat regular meal with liquid supplements, but those who refuse are given feedings through a nasogastric tube. The patient is moved to outpatient therapy when it is safe to do so.
There is also self-help for people with anorexia. There are a variety of methods. Support groups are a great way to get emotional support. Self-help books on anorexia can be a great place to start on how to change one's self-image and disordered eating. Finding other coping skills can be a good place to start. Some tips on how to improve your body image are, wear clothes you are comfortable in, stay away from the scale, stay away from fashion magazines, do nice things for your body, and stay active.
One treatment for anorexia is psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is the most common treatment. It also has the most research behind it. It needs a significant amount of time and is a big financial commitment, especially if you are dealing with other issues. Psychotherapy is not only helpful in addressing your disordered eating but also your overall emotional heath and happiness. The focus of psychotherapy is to address the underlying emotional and cognitive issues that result in the disordered eating.
Another treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. CBT is considered to be the treatment of choice for people with anorexia. It has the support of decades worth of research. It is time-limited and focused approach that helps a person understand how their negative self-talk and self-image can directly impact their eating and negative behaviors. CBT will focus on identifying and changing dysfunctional thought patterns, attitudes and beliefs, which may cause a person's restrictive eating. The person with anorexia will go into treatment for a certain amount of time with a goal in mind. It can be done in an outpatient or inpatient setting. Preliminary evidence suggests that CBT may reduce relapse risk after weight is regained, for adults.
Another form of treatment is family therapy. Family therapy helps someone with anorexia realize how dysfunctional of a role they play in the family because of their eating disorder. Most of the time family therapy is conducted with the person with anorexia and their family but sometimes it involves sessions without the person with anorexia. Doing this helps the family understand the role they play in supporting the disordered eating and gives ways the family may help the person with disordered eating realize they have a problem and help the seek out help.
There are no medications that can help anorexia. After a complete medical exam and workup a physician will prescribe medication that will treat any medical problems, like electrolyte abnormalities or abnormal heart rhythms. Many people with anorexia also have depression, so often times they will be prescribed an antidepressant. Also estrogen will need to be taken. Women with anorexia are at high risk for fractures. Not having periods due to low body weight puts them in a state like early menopause.
There are residential treatment facilities for anorexia. This is a place where all of the above treatments are available. They are located throughout the United States and in many other countries. They focus on treating all types of eating disorders. They help a person learn all of the necessary skills and put them into daily practice in a safe, relaxing environment. These kinds of treatments may be paid for by and individual's private health insurance, for a certain period of time.
There is also hospitalization for anorexia. This is often used in cases where a person with anorexia is severely ill and has a relapse from baseline weight, or is below 15% of appropriate body weight, or the individual had other serious medical issues. During these visits people with anorexia are encouraged to eat regular meal with liquid supplements, but those who refuse are given feedings through a nasogastric tube. The patient is moved to outpatient therapy when it is safe to do so.
There is also self-help for people with anorexia. There are a variety of methods. Support groups are a great way to get emotional support. Self-help books on anorexia can be a great place to start on how to change one's self-image and disordered eating. Finding other coping skills can be a good place to start. Some tips on how to improve your body image are, wear clothes you are comfortable in, stay away from the scale, stay away from fashion magazines, do nice things for your body, and stay active.