Overview

An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life. According to the authors of Surviving an Eating Disorder, "feelings about work, school, relationships, day-to-day activities and one's experience of emotional well being are determined by what has or has not been eaten or by a number on a scale." Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes, with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. Together, they affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder. This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Overcome an Eating Disorder

Millions of people are affected by eating disorders which can be made up of compulsive or binge eating, anorexia or bulimia. People try to control their eating disorder by using all sorts of methods such as dieting, vomiting after eating, laxatives, fasting, using slimming aids and over exercising. And it's not only women who suffer from food addiction, many men do too.

What many people don't realize is that there is usually an underlying problem to their eating disorder, and this needs to be addressed. Sadly it is in outward sign of an inner problem. An eating disorder usually occurs when eating or not eating is used to help block out painful feelings and emotions. If you don't seek the right help and treatment, these difficulties may persist throughout life and can often have fatal consequences.

Dieting and eating disorders have a profound physiological and emotional side effect. People who suffer from food addictions do so for any number of reasons such as depression, loneliness, feeling ashamed, physical or sexual abuse, low self esteem, feeling fat, body dissatisfaction and generally not feeling good enough about themselves.

When someone seeks help and treatment to overcome their eating disorder, it is usually a lengthy and complex process. They will have to learn a difference in their behavior and be open to revealing in detail about their food disorder which can make them feel ashamed. Behavioral therapy is regularly used in treating an eating disorder and can help replace certain habits with new appropriate ones. Some people keep a diary to monitor their daily food intake and this has the aim of helping the patient to observe their behavior instead of just 'living' it. Of course, this is just one step. There are many other steps which will need to be taken to overcome their problem with food but with the right help and treatment, you can overcome an eating disorder.



Autor: James Yiannakou James Yiannakou
Level: Basic
Male 39, loves fishing and helping others from addiction...

Get more info here: Eating Disorder Rehab Clinic.


Added: September 29, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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