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Eating disorders are serious
disturbances in eating behavior. These include unhealthy reduction
of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or
extreme concern about body shape or weight. Eating disorders are
not due to a failure of will or behavior. Rather, they are real
treatable medical illnesses in which certain patterns of eating take
over a person’s life.
The main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia
nervosa. A third type, binge-eating disorder has been suggested
but not approved as a psychiatric disorder.
People with Anorexia Nervosa see themselves as overweight even though
they are dangerously thin. The process of eating becomes an
obsession. Unusual eating habits develop, such as avoiding food
and meals, picking out a few foods and eating these in small quantities,
or carefully weighing and portioning food. People with anorexia
repeatedly check their body weight. Many involve other ways to
control their weight, such as, intense and compulsive exercising, or
purging by means of vomiting and abuse of laxatives, enemas, and
diuretics.
With Bulimia Nervosa there are episodes of binge eating, characterized
by eating an excessive amount of food within a certain period of time
and by a lack of control over eating during the episode. To
prevent weight gain, individuals will then engage in behaviors, such as
self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or
other medications, purging, fasting, or excessive exercise.
Because of these extreme behaviors, people with bulimia usually weigh
within the normal range for their age and height. People with
bulimia often act upon the behaviors in secrecy, feeling disgusted and
ashamed when they binge, yet relieved once they purge.
Individuals with binge-eating disorder often have episodes of
out-of-control eating, with the same binge-eating symptoms as those with
bulimia. The main difference is that individuals with binge-eating
disorder do not purge their bodies of excess calories. Therefore,
many with the disorder are overweight for their age and height.
Feelings of disgust and shame associated with this illness can lead to
binging again, creating a cycle of binge eating.
The sooner eating disorders are diagnosed and treated, the better the
outcomes are likely to be. People with eating disorders often do
not recognize or admit that they are ill. As a result, they may
strongly resist getting and staying in treatment.
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