Anorexia Nervosa An Eating Disorder

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder with three key features: refusal to maintain a healthy body weight; an intense fear of gaining weight; a distorted body image

Because of the terror of becoming fat or revulsion with how your body looks, eating becomes very stressful. What you can and cannot eat is basically all you can think about.

Thoughts about food and your body may take nearly all of your day.  There is little time for friends, family, and other activities that are pleasurable.  Life becomes a quest for thinness and persistent desire to lose weight.

And no matter how you lose no matter how thin you become, it can never be enough.

People with anorexia often deny having a problem; in reality anorexia are a serious and a life threatening eating disorder.  However treatment and recovery is possible. With proper management you can break the self-destructive pattern and regain health and self-confidence without anorexia.

There are two types of anorexia.   The restricting type of anorexia,  where weight loss is achieved by restricting calories and extreme exercise; and the purging type of anorexia, weight loss is achieved by vomiting or using laxatives and diuretics.

Some signs of anorexia are:  you feel fat even though people tell you that you are not;  you are terrified of gaining weight; you lie about how much you eat or hide your eating habits from others; friends or family concerned about your weight loss, eating habits, or appearance.   You diet, compulsively exercise, or purge when you are feeling overwhelmed or bad about yourself; you feel in control when you go without food, over-exercise, or purge.

 Food and weight is not what the crux of anorexia. Eating disorders are extremely complicated. The food and weight-related issues are symptoms: things like depression, loneliness, insecurity, pressure to be perfect, or feeling out of control; contribute to the disorder. Things at the heart of an eating disorder have no bearing on how much you eat or do not eat.  There is a need that the eating disorder meets in you life.

The important point to understand is that anorexia meets a need in your life.  You may feel powerless some parts of your life, and what you can control is what you eat.    Saying no to food may make you feel dominant at least for a short time.  Anorexia may also be a way of distracting yourself from unmanageable emotions. When you spend most of your time thinking about food, dieting, and weight loss, you do not have to face other problems in your life or try to control problematical emotions.  Dieting and weight loss cannot change the negative self-image that is the foundation of anorexia. To identify the emotional need that self-starvation fulfills and finds other ways to meet it is the only way to recovery.

The first priority in anorexia treatment is treating any serious health issues. Hospitalization may be necessary if you are dangerously malnourished or so troubled that you no longer want to live. You may also need to be hospitalized until you reach a more ideal weight. Outpatient treatment is an option when you are not in immediate medical danger.

A second part of anorexia treatment is nutritional counseling. A nutritionist or dietician will teach you about healthy eating and proper nutrition. The nutritionist will also help you with meal plans that include enough calories to reach or maintain a normal, healthy weight.

Counseling is critical to anorexia treatment. Its goal is to discover the negative thoughts and feelings that at the heart of your eating disorder and replace them with healthier, less distorted ideas and build confidence.  Counseling will teach you how to deal with difficult emotions, relationship problems, and stress in a productive, non self-destructive, way.

 The thought of gaining weight is can be extremely frightening; especially if you are being forced and you may be tempted to resist. But research shows that a more normal body weight is when starting treatment; the greater your chance of recovery, getting to a healthy weight is the priority in the treatment goal.  Your fear of gaining weight is a symptom of your anorexia.

Anorexia is often a symptom of extreme emotional distress and develops out of an attempt to manage emotional pain, stress, and/or self-hate.  In order to overcome the distress that is the core of anorexia the primary goal should be treating the medical, psychological symptoms and build and maintain a foundation of positive and  affirmative convictions to sustain the normal weight and end the old eating habits; purging and self denial of anorexia.