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.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Second Deadly Stage of Anorexia - The Signs Loved Ones and Parents Should Look For!

Stage Two: The Security Compulsive Stage

The second stage starts with the loss of two pounds a week as a goal. The thinner the anorexic gets, the more overweight she feels. The women or girl has now crossed the border into psychopathology, or mental illness. She becomes preoccupied with measuring her arms, waist, thighs, trying on smaller sizes of clothing, and thinking about nothing else. She also looks at every other girl her age and imagines she is fatter than they are. This body-size distortion is invented by her in order to maintain the mission to lose weight.If she can pretend to herself that she is fat, she can believe it is crucial to be a fat fighter, and this will become an important part of her sense of identity.

It is this thought that drives her on to intensify her weight-losing behaviors. She may start to walk more, add unreasonable amounts of stressful exercises like climbing additional flights of stairs, and using other exercise machines to excess.She may increase her weight loss goal to more than two pounds a week. Each pound loss is a reason for her to lose even more. All other girls and women seem to be thinner than she is, regardless of the reality. Her compulsion to lose weight becomes the focus. It soon becomes an obsession, something she is always thinking about. Because it has become an obsession, she must continue to find refuge in weight loss in order to reduce her anxiety.



Autor: Keith L. Simpson

Keith Simpson would absolutely love to help ANYONE who is fighting to overcome Anorexia & Bulimia. Keith is taking surveys in order to EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS you or your loved ones deepest concerns and issues regarding Anorexia & Bulimia. Your voice is important to Keith and it will be heard.

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Added: November 28, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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