2023 Author: Anita Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 03:30
For most of us, food is a natural need. For others, nutritional needs are a fuzzy concept and a daily struggle.
Eating, breathing and sleeping are all repetitive and natural gestures to which we pay very little attention, except to make them more pleasant by cooking good meals, for example. Most people's relationship to food comes down to this. But it happens that people perceive this relationship differently. They feel bad about eating, come to hate themselves for being hungry…
For those people who suffer from an eating disorder, each meal becomes an unpleasant event that will require them to hide and lie and that will put their self-esteem and their he alth at risk, a little more each time. There are other eating disorders that are less severe, but anorexia and bulimia affect the greatest number of people, 100,000 women and girls in Quebec.
What is bulimia?
Bulimia can be compared to drug addiction. The person who suffers from it feels an irrepressible urge to eat without necessarily being hungry. After eating this extra food, she goes away.wants.
A bit like an anorexic, a bulimic individual makes himself vomit, takes laxatives and does a lot of sport to not gain weight and to continue to overeat. It can be difficult to notice bulimia as the person eats and their weight remains stable. Bulimia is sometimes associated with borderline personality disorders and incest.
And anorexia?
In anorexia, patients may also use laxatives, induce vomiting and exercise excessively, but in their case, it is to lose weight. There are two types of anorexia, anorexia and anorexia nervosa. In anorexia nervosa, the person struggles with hunger and in anorexia, they have lost their appetite. In both cases, the person does not perceive their body as it is and thinks they are too fat, even if in reality they are well below their he althy weight.
Many symptoms can alert the relatives of a person who suffers from anorexia. The person loses a lot of weight, is afraid of getting fat, refuses to admit his thinness, and in girls, menstruation can be interrupted for several months. It happens that anorexia nervosa affects teenagers who want to look like stars and that this state is temporary, however, you have to keep an eye open and if the disorder persists, it becomes important to consult.
Risks
Eating disorders have the potential to cause a lot of harm to the bodyof those who suffer from it. Damage to the esophagus, anemia and malnutrition are just a few of the many consequences of anorexia and bulimia, both of which can lead to death.
In 2006, Ana Carolina Reston, a Brazilian model of Lebanese origin who already had an international career at the age of 13, died of complications from anorexia. It is said that a critic had mentioned that she was too fat during a first fashion event abroad and that these remarks then obsessed her and led to her anorexia and her death. She was 22 years old and ate exclusively apples and tomatoes when her kidneys stopped working. She is the second internationally renowned model to die of anorexia.
The physical consequences of an eating disorder include:
- Fatigue, tremors, dizziness, fainting, headaches
- Insomnia and memory loss
- Dry skin, hair loss, weak and brittle nails
- Lugano (appearance of a fine fuzz of hair covering the skin of the face, back and arms)
- Vitamin deficiencies
- Menstrual cycle disorder or cessation of menstruation
- Risk of osteoporosis
- Reduced muscle mass
- Constipation
- Anaemia
- Excessive chilliness (cold hands and feet)
- Slow heart rate, palpitations and heart attacks
- Death
Get Help
The Troublesfoods are easier to care for with help. The sequelae are difficult to overcome and the behaviors can lessen without ever completely disappearing. The impact on he alth is often too great to neglect medical monitoring and the risk of relapse is significant. If you or your child have an eating disorder, there are several solutions available to you.
You can first meet with a general practitioner who will tell you if you suffer from deficiencies, anemia or other physical disorders. You will also need to meet with a psychologist specializing in eating disorders who will support you in your healing process. Finally, support groups exist for each disorder. In the case of bulimia, it is the Overeaters Anonymous who will help you find the motivation and the means to fight an urge to eat.
