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.

Friday, January 15, 2010

5 Things You Need to Know About Eating Disorder Treatments

Some people make fun of stories about a lot of teenage girls or even adult women who suffer from this physical and psychological disease involving obsessive compulsion to eat excessively and purge. The growing fascination for a stick thin body is recently at its most alarming rate with young women dying from the lack of eating disorder treatment. This is further aggravated by society s blatant attempt to dismiss the growing number of people suffering from the disorder. Eating disorders should not be taken for granted and if you have friends and family whom you suspect may be suffering from this condition, it is time to intervene.

But before you do, you need to know some basic truths about eating disorders and the possible intervention that could help your friend or family member recuperate from either bulimia or anorexia nervosa.

1. Not all people suffering from an eating disorder are underweight. Other signs might be exhibited and you need to know what these are. There are the physical signs such as wounds and cuts in the middle as well as the forefinger. Consequently, a person who continuously purges after she eats may have ulcer or hyperacidity. Some behavioral symptom along with these signs is the constant obsession about her weight and bodily image. The person may also be a little too secretive about what she eats and may keep to herself after meals. Knowing these signs will help you determine which eating disorder she has and what possible treatment may be done.
2. Helping a loved one and seeking eating disorder treatment may pose as a challenge so you need to be equipped in handling objections and tantrums. You need to be very understanding as the person may go through a time of denial before finally admitting that she has this compulsion.
3. Seeking professional help is a good thing if the person does not want to talk to you or a family member. Counselors and therapists are prepared to listen, answer questions and they are equipped with counseling strategies to help unveil the cause behind the eating disorder. You can encourage the person to seek professional guidance as a last resort.
4. Taking care of the person s nutrition requirements and exercise plans would be the next best step in treating this disorder. Encourage the person that a healthy body is much better than what society demands of them to look like. You can go through the entire course with them and eat the same meals as well as buddy up in working out. That way, the person knows that she is not alone in battling this sickness.
5. Having a support group greatly helps in establishing that the person is not alone through her struggles. The primary support group in an eating disorder treatment should be her family. Next, you can find people who have the same experience and have recovered from an eating disorder. The person needs to gain the confidence and see that she can get through this. Seeing friendly faces as well as hearing from people who have recovered can boost the confidence level of the person and convince her that she is not powerless.



Autor: Jeffry Ryan

After years of struggling to control my eating disorder I found a treatment that worked. I am now trying to share this brilliant method with the world.


Added: January 15, 2010
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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