Eating disorder is a common mental health condition, which misunderstood with bad habit. Eating disorder are about food and eating habits which affects a person emotionally and impacts on physical and psychological health. Eating disorders may either lead to malnutrition of an affected person or make him with unhealthy weight with uncontrolled eating habits.
Eating disorder not only impact on person’s physical appearance, but it is also connected with mental issues of a person, and it required immediate medical attention by professional treatment by doctors and dietitian to reduce the further health trouble. Let explore the six common types of eating disorders and their symptoms to understand it better and know how it can potentially impact on long term basis on affected individuals.
- Anorexia Nervosa: A Disliking relationship with food
Anorexia nervosa or food disliking order is a mental health issue, where affected person takes utmost care of his weight and follows an extreme food and calorie restriction due to imaginary fear of weight gain. This eating disorder can seriously malnutrition in affected person’s body, and also impacts negatively on his mental health.
Anorexia nervosa can be found with two different behavioural pattern as below
a] Food restricting habit: in this a person follows strict diet, exercise and fasting to make weight loss, even due to imaginary fear of being high in weight.
b] High eating habit: In this a person involves themselves in a habitual practice of eating more than his body needs. And sometimes it become mental illness, when a Peron practice vomiting to remove the eaten food from his body and make room to eat more and follow more intense physical exercise.
People with anorexia nervosa, may have a medium body physique but due to their mental imaginary thoughts made them to project themselves as higher in weight or under weight. Their self-thinking leads them to follow habits of less eating or more eating, which later on damages their physical as well as mental health. Sometimes these peoples follow more cautious about food what they eat, and it may damage their social image among the people with whom they are surrounded. In less eating situation an individual constantly thinks about his weight and diet which leads to eating less and further malnutrition may damage those person’s health.
There is psychological effect of anorexia nervosa along with physical health decline including white hair, nails issues, bone thinning and infertility. In critical cases there could be life threatening conditions arises including failure of brain, heart and other vital organs such as kidneys.
Treatment for anorexia nervosa is done with various stages and after involving doctor, therapists and dietitian all three experts assess the patient and provide the necessary treatments. Eating disorders and psychological aspect of these people should be monitored and treated on time to reduce the threat of further criticalness.
- Bulimia Nervosa: The cycle of abnormal eating
Bulimia nervosa is another serious disorder which involves abnormal and high eating behaviour is found. And sometimes the people affected with this disorder also starts doing vomiting, fasting, using laxative, intense exercise upon self-realization. But this leads them towards more critical aspect of this health issue.
One major risk is associated with bulimia nervosa is that, the patients behaviour towards food can lead to severe dehydration, Imbalance off body electrolytes and gastrointestinal issues. During this individual may found symptoms such swollen salivary glands, sore throat, worn enamel and tooth decay.
Bulimia nervosa shares some similarity with anorexia nervosa, but the main difference is that with bulimia people have normal weight or fluctuating weight but in anorexia nervosa people are usually found lower than the required body weight.
This disease also needs combine treatment of medical professional, dietitian and therapists to break the abnormal habit cycle and reduce the psychological impact from our mind and reduce the threat.
- Binge Eating Disorder:
Binge eating disorder of (BED) is an another commonly found disorder which involved eating more food in a short period of time, and often without feeling hungry. People with BED may found themselves with lack of control on food eating habits and they feel guilt and distress.
BED shows the high quantity of food eating habits in individuals which results in excess weight gain and increase risk of type 2 diabetes, weight gain and heart disease.
Bed can be a habit of eating during emotionally distress situation, where individual eats but hide it from others as they are afraid of others being judgemental about them. This improves patient anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
The treatment of BED Involves therapy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which helps patients to address their emotional triggers and by supressing the anxiety and depression an individual can avoid the Bulk eating disorder.
- Pica: Eating Non-Food Items
Pica is a rare eating disorder in which individual may found engaged in eating dirt, chalk, paper or hair. As pica is a habit of chewing anything what comes in the patient hand which is not safe at all. Eating any such substance with zero nutritional value and may lead to various health threats including poisoning, infections, internal injuries and digestive system issues.
Pica is mostly seen in individuals with weak mental ability and developing disability such as autism disorders etc. Eating non-food item creates abnormal cravings of non-food and non-nutritious items.
Pica habit can harm individual’s health, therefore it required medical attention as well as behavioural therapy to address the situation and improve the awareness of patient about the risks of their pica will improve its treatment effectiveness.
- Rumination disorder: Repeated regurgitation of food (Swallowing and then removing by pressing your abdomen and again chewing)
Rumination disorder is an uncommon behaviours in which an individual engages themselves in re-chewing and re-swallowing or spiting out the food they eat, with intervals of 30 minutes after meal. This can show a distress and embarrassment situation of affected person. In few cases individual may not aware about his repeated behaviours in several times in a day.
Rumination disorder may found in infants and it resolves on its own as the child get older, but rumination in older children’s and adults need therapy to reduce this type of behaviour. In critical cases rumination may lead to malnutrition and weight loss in affected individuals.
Rumination disorder is also linked with psychological factors including stress, anxiety and mental imbalance, Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) can be effective in breaking the food habits and develop healthy eating habits in affected individuals.
- Avoidant / Restrictive Food eating Disorder (ARFID): Picky Eating
Under avoidant or restrictive food eating disorder, individual denies to eat specific food, due to individual sense, taste, texture, smell dislike for any specific food, this can also lead to nutritional deficiency, weight loss and lack of body nourishment related issues. It may affect all age group, children, adolescents and even adults. In ARFID Disorder individual may lose ability to eat any specific food due to emotional and physical difficulties.
Treatment of ARFID also involves combination of treatment including medicinal, counselling and therapy to reduce the discomfort about eating any specific food.
Other eating disorders:
There are several other eating disorders than above mentioned, which are as follows.
Purging Disorder: In this disorder individual individuals go with intense exercise and laxatives to control their weight, but they avoid eating food to provide enough nutrition to their body. Its symptoms are difficult to understand and it similarly impacts physically and psychologically on affected peoples.
Night Eating Syndrome: Many people may face issues of craving of eating at night after waking up from sleep. This disorder imbalance the body rest pattern of individual and create weight gain, acidity, gastric disorder like issues. It also impacts on mental health with creating mental tiredness and sorrow like feelings.
Orthorexia: It is an obsessive eating disorder of healthy food, I n which people make themselves determine to eat only. This habit also impacts on their regular eating pattern and create malnutrition and emotional distress like issues.
The importance of treatment and precautions about eating disorders:
If you know someone who have such eating disorders, then always try to help them with the help of medical professional advice. Eating disorders can also critical and may needed longer period medical treatments and care to reduce the threat. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is very effective in most of the eating disorders, many times combines therapy of medicines, counselling therapy and psychological treatment are needed to prepare strategies to cope us the eating disorders.
Support of family and friends is important for early recovery during eating disorders, as they not only impact physically but also have impact on the patient’s psychological health where strong emotional support and care is needed.
Eating disorders are critical, but can be treated with proper care, medication and therapies before it become sever. Professional treatment and counselling is important for effective treatment of any type of eating disorder which is linked with mental ability and individual habits. Eating is a main process of our body where an individual gets his daily energy to nourish his body, and therefore eating orders should be taken seriously and being treated under professional guidance for early recovery and before it become critical.
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