By: Svetlana Pasarić |
Anorexia nervosa – a scary disease |
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While the society is concerned about the number of people who suffer from obesity, some starve themselves wishing to become too skinny.
Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness that frightens and fascinates. It is an eating disorder which results in a drastic body weight loss.
People who suffer from anorexia are obsessed with weight loss. They really tend to look like a skeleton, but they still think they are fat.
In order to lose more weight, anorexic people starve themselves and exercise excessively.
Although anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder, the reason is not just the food. Anorexia is also a way in which a person tries to cope with their emotional problems, perfectionism and a desire to control everything.
- Anorexia is often a perverse way in which a person tries to gain self-esteem.
- It is assumed that about 1% of all women and girls in the United States suffer from anorexia. Others say that the figure is much greater.
- Anorexia usually begins in the teenage years.
- In 90% of cases anorexic patients are girls and women.
- Anorexia kills more people than any other mental illness. About 10% of patients die, 20% remain chronically ill, and only about 40% of patients manage to fully recover.
An anorexic person has frequent bouts of depression, which may include suicidal ideation. A half of all deaths among anorexic people is attributed to suicide.
An anorexic person withdraws from society, ceases to go out and spend time with friends. Very often such people distance themselves from the closest people: their parents.
They refuse treatment, refuse the help from their parents and friends. When asked to go to a doctor or to eat more, such a person reacts very violently. Although she may be on the verge of death, an anorexic patient believes everything is fine.
Watch a video about anorexia
Types of Anorexia
Anorexia can be divided into two types. Both types are characterized by weight loss or even starvation. The line between them is admirably thin and they sometimes overlap.
Two types of anorexia are
1) Self-restriction
Anorexic people lose weight by severely limiting the amount of food intake. They also try to lose weight through excessive exercise
2) Induced vomiting
Anorexic people trying to limit calories any way possible: after meals such patients induce vomiting, take laxatives or diuretics, or perform an enema. Some of them overeat and take large quantities of food. Others take a very small quantities of food, for example a piece of cake.
Both types of anorexia, apart from a drastic loss of body weight, have other symptoms.
Symptoms of anorexia
Symptoms include:
- skinny look
- chronic fatigue
- dizziness or fainting
- brittle nails
- thin, dry and brittle hair
- hair loss
- thin hairs that grow on the body
- loss of menstruation
- constipation
- dry skin
- low body temperature (constant feeling of cold)
- irregular heartbeat
- low pressure
- dehydration
- osteoporosis
Emotional and behavioral traits:
- refusing food
- neglecting hunger
- excessive exercise
- apathy, lack of emotion
- problems with concentration
- frequent depression, suicidal thoughts
- reticence
These symptoms are not always visible. Anorexic people are very skilled hiding their problems from other people.
Watch out for the following signs:
- person misses meals
- makes excuses to avoid eating
- eats only "healthy" food, i.e. the food that usually contains less calories
- develops strange eating habits: for example, cutting food into small pieces or spitting out food after chewing it
- constantly weighs food
- prepares delicious meals for others, but does not eat them
- constantly weighs herself
- constantly looks in the mirror
- complains about being too fat
- wears baggy clothes
Complications
Anorexia can have many complications. The worst of them may end in death. Anorexia has the highest death rate of all mental illnesses - about 10%
Death can occur unexpectedly - and not just because of a drastic weight loss.
Death may be the result of irregular heartbeat - arrhythmia - or imbalance of electrolytes in the body of the patient. This is how the singer Karen Carpenter died, triggering public interest for anorexia.
Serious complications of anorexia nervosa include:
- anemia
- heart problems, such as arrhythmia and heart failure
- bone loss, bones prone to fractures
- problems with the lungs, like emphysema
- in women, loss of menstrual periods
- in men, low testosterone levels
- gastrointestinal problems, like constipation, bloating or nausea
- electrolyte imbalance: low levels of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate
- kidney problems
If an anorexic person becomes very malnourished, then every organ in the body can be damaged, including the brain, heart and kidneys. Severely damaged organs are difficult to recover.
Anorexic people can enjoy not only the physical, but also the mental complications, such as
- depression
- anxiety disorders
- personality disorders
- obsessions
- narcotic addiction
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