Thinking About Eating Disorders

Allow me to tell you the story of a friend of mine.

A young teenage girl we know recently suffered through the death of her mother and consequently had to be faced with being raised by her father in whom she was petrified of. Did I mention she was to be in charge of raising her 6 younger brothers and sisters.

She was always thin, but now weighs 90 pounds. She doesn’t think she has a problem and her father doesn’t think she has a problem. There are many questions in this situation, the major one being does she have an eating disorder. If she does have an eating disorder, what type is it….anorexia, bulimia?

It’s clear she needs help, others have tried, however her father prevents any intervention. The question becomes, what is causing the eating disorder? That’s why I assembled this collection of articles and ebooks on eating disorders. Hopefully, you…the reader, might see yourself or someone you care about in the articles to come. Perhaps you might see that you are experiencing the symptoms discussed for anorexia or bulimia. Maybe you binge eat.

In a society that is increasingly placing standards of beauty upon the youths of our population, people are at more of a risk than ever when it comes to developing an eating disorder. The celebrities in television and the media display stick-thin figures which can create a high standard of beauty that can lead to many problems with an individual’s self esteem. When coupled with the fact that an obesity epidemic is overtaking much of the modern world, it’s important to have a full understanding of the eating disorders which are prevalent in society today in order to be able to catch the warning signs when an individual you know is afflicted.

This truly is a life and death discussion. Admitting you might have an eating disorder of some type is the first step in finding a solution to your problem. I pray that you might listen to the voice inside your head as you read the following material.

 

New Anorexia Study Answers Questions

When it comes to eating disorders, few are as tragic as anorexia. It's a disorder that many of us are familiar with, but few realize what terrible consequences that anorexia can have on someone's body. For a long time, we've known that anorexia is a problem that occurs on a psychological level, and it's tough for anorexics to overcome their problem by just wishing it away. Many sufferers feel the same bad way about their bodies when they are trying to stop the eating disorder, and it can cause them to relapse, leading to worse problems. When the body isn't getting enough nutrition, it suffers. Anorexics, if untreated, will experience stunted bone development, heart problems, muscle wasting and generally depressed health. Many suffer psychologically from the disorder as well, with feelings of shame and low self-image being the result of their woes. For that reason, it's important that anyone who has the disorder should seek treatment for their own well-being. While counseling and treatment can be helpful, many anorexics relapse into their condition afterwards. Sadly, many anorexics pay the ultimate price and die as a result of the damage that the disorder does to their body. Recently, a study was conducted which has helped to shed some light on the problem that anorexics face with their bodies.

Doctor Naresh Mondraty of the University of New South Wales presented the results of a research study that his team had conducted at the school. The study consisted of several anorexic women who were shown pictures of their own body and pictures of other women's bodies. Brain scans were taken as the girls were looking at the images, and the researchers found astonishing results. As it turns out, when the girls looked at images of their own body, certain parts of their brain simply 'shut down', showing that the girls pattern of thought regarding their self image was largely negative. The suppression of the brain activity shown in the brain scans proved that the girls were chemically depressed about their own appearance, even when they were well below their recommended body weight.

This study can help to show why it is so hard for anorexics to recover from their problems. Since the girls' brain activity showed that their bodies resulted in serious changes in the way the brain was functioning, it can be a difficult cycle to break. While we've always known that anorexia existed on a largely psychological level, the neurological connections that this study has shown should prove to take some of the shame away from the disease. It shows that anorexia nervosa is a serious problem with one's physical and mental health that can be very difficult to conquer. The girls in the study showed that regardless of what the world said about their bodies, they honestly felt disgusted by their own appearance. Hopefully, the light that this shines upon the eating disorder's basic chemistry will prove to be of merit in helping to solve the problem in the future.

Written by: Scott Parat