| Disordered Eating |
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The term 'disordered eating' covers of a variety of situations including compulsive overeating, binge eating, anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
1.Compulsive Overeating
Compulsive overeating is characterized by uncontrollable eating followed by feelings of guilt and shame. It is different from bulimia in that it does not involve any purging. While it inevitably results in weight gain, it is also not to be confused with obesity.
Binge eating which is discussed below is a type of compulsive overeating.
Not everyone who is overweight has an eating disorder. While people who compulsively overeat are usually very preoccupied with issues of food, eating, and weight, uncontrollable bouts of eating are an attempt to manage other hidden issues. That is, as a compulsive overeater, you use food to cope with stress and other problems (i.e., trauma, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem). However, the negative feelings blocked by the overeating are only momentarily avoided, as you inevitably feel guilty and shameful about the overeating.
Compulsive overeating generally has a gradual beginning, often starting in early childhood when eating patterns are formed. It usually starts very subtly, when a child turns to food whenever they are upset. Over time, you learn that food in fact will soothe the upset feelings.
The destructive pattern continues as you do not learn to trust that feelings will pass and that you are capable of self-soothing without food.
Like someone with bulimia, when you compulsively overeat, you usually try every way you can think of to stop. Often the attempt at control takes the form of rigorous dieting or living by inflexible standards of eating. While strict dieting may help intermittently with the weight gain, in the long run it doesn't do anything to remedy the emotional reasons for the compulsive overeating.
Moreover, restrictive dieting is so depriving that it creates a situation of compounded desperation to eat. Dieting is often part of a cycle of bingeing, shame and guilt, dieting, self pity and then bingeing again.
Compulsive overeating has only recently come to be taken seriously and straightforwardly in our culture. Prejudicial impressions remain very strong. With this kind of disordered eating, people are often stereotyped as lazy and gluttonous, or, at best, as having too big an appetite and lacking in willpower or self-control. Your pain is then overlooked not only by yourself, but also by other people.
The physical and emotional consequences of overeating include:
Recovery is completely possible for compulsive overeaters through a gradual process of lifestyle change and with the help of others. Along with the medical, psychological and nutritional assistance helpful to anyone with distorted eating habits, Overeaters Anonymous is very useful as is professional counselling.
Binge eating disorder is not as well known as the other eating disorders but still affects millions of people around the world. It is a type of compulsive overeating which is discussed in the article above. An individual frequently eating large amounts of food and feeling they are unable to control what they are doing characterizes this illness. Unlike Bulimia, sufferers of this illness do not vomit or use laxatives to relieve themselves, and are therefore very likely to gain weight.
This disorder was only recognized a short while ago however is probably the most common of the eating disorders.
Sufferers are usually obese due to the nature of the illness but people of a healthy weight can also be affected. Eating can make some people feel very depressed yet they turn to food to comfort themselves when they are feeling sad. Lots of sufferers of binge eating disorder tend to feel guilty and shameful about what they're doing and therefore don't seek help because this means someone knowing about their secret.
There are many characteristics of a binge eating session, such as eating the food quicker than usual, eating secretly in places where no one is around, feeling full but continuing to eat, consuming foods that are seen as naughty and the binge eater feeling they cannot control their habit.
This is usually followed by intense feelings of regret and guilt. Research has shown that this disorder is more common in women than in men.
Common characteristics of binge eating include:
The physical and emotional consequences of binge eating disorder include:
3 - Anorexia Nervosa
This is a disruption in normal eating habits characterized by an all consuming fear of becoming "fat." It typically starts in teenage women as a normal attempt to diet but gradually leads to more and more weight loss, often more than 25% of original body weight.
There is an intense preoccupation with food and body size, which may involve compulsive exercising.
As this happens, many normal activities may stop. Menstruation ceases in women and there are a number of physical symptoms of malnutrition such as lowered heart rate, low blood pressure, decreased metabolic rate and sensations of coldness particularly in the extremities.
People with anorexia nervosa are obsessed with food and deny that they have a problem or that they are too thin. They may be able to work or study and have some social life but usually function far below their potential. Frequently they are also depressed. Some persons with anorexia starve themselves to death.
Others check the downward spiral of weight loss and maintain a steady but seriously underweight condition. In all cases, even severe weight loss does not diminish the perception of being "fat."
4 - Bulimia
Bulimia is a cycle of uncontrolled binge eating followed by purging through vomiting or the use of laxatives. Individuals with bulimia are often of normal weight or even slightly overweight. Bulimia can range from a mild and relatively infrequent response to stress to an extremely debilitating pattern that absorbs nearly all of a person's time, energy, and money. In its most severe forms, binge eating and purging may occur ten or more times a day.
Over time, the cycle becomes more and more dominant in the person's thoughts and behavior. It may impair personal relationships and interfere with other activities, leading to depression, isolation, and lowered self-esteem. Once caught in this pattern, the resulting shame and sense of helplessness may make it difficult for the person to seek the help that is needed.
Physical effects can also be serious. Frequent vomiting can cause permanent tooth damage from erosion of tooth enamel as well as damage to the tissues of the throat and esophagus. Kidney problems and seizures are also possible. Electrolyte imbalance with consequent risk of serious cardiac problems is also a significant danger.
One form of anorexia nervosa also involves binge eating and purging. In these cases persons turn to binge-purge strategies as an alternative to starving themselves to achieve their desired weight loss. Thus the binge-purge cycle may occur in both disorders but individuals with anorexia nervosa lose much more weight. |