Anorexia And Bulimia

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What is Anorexia nervosa?

Anorexia nervosa is an illness where individuals keep their body weight low by either restricting what they eat, vomiting, or by the use of excessive exercising.

Someone suffering from Anorexia will experience high levels of anxiety and distress at the thought of gaining weight. They are highly anxious about their body shape, size and weight and fear being fat or gaining weight.

Anorexia means loss of appetite which can be quite misleading as sufferers often feel extremely hungry but actually deny themselves food. Another unhelpful label is when people refer to anorexia nervosa as,” the slimmers disease” as this is often dismissing the complex seriousness of the illness and the suffering experienced by the individual involved.   

Some individuals may be more afraid of losing their control over eating food than the fear of weight gain.  This is linked to their emotions and their lack of ability to manage those emotions. 

They strive to become thinner often setting very unrealistic goals. Even if they reach the targets that they have set themselves they will still be unhappy and endeavour to lose more weight. This behaviour can place their health and life at serious risk through starvation and lack of nutritional input. It can lead to loss of muscle mass and reduced bone strength and in women periods often stop. Men can also suffer from a lack of interest in sex or impotency.

Individuals with Anorexia do not view themselves as others do and reject the idea that they need to gain weight to remain healthy. They see losing weight or maintaining low weight as a positive achievement and this gives them a feeling of control in their lives.

Sufferers of anorexia nervosa have low self-esteem and an immense need to control their surroundings and emotions. They are in turmoil and constant conflict within themselves.  Due to low self-esteem and the need for acceptance they turn to obsessing about food not only to control their weight but an attempt to control their feelings and emotions.

Some sufferers feel that they are worthless and undeserving of any pleasures and as eating is a pleasure they deprive themselves of this gratification. Their anorexia is an attempt to manage the stress, unhappiness and their feelings that their life is out off control. This is a negative and self harming method of trying to mange their emotions and surroundings.

It is common for people with anorexia to experience episodes of bulimia.

This illness can affect individual’s relationships with family and friends. They can become withdrawn and it can have an impact upon their school work or employment.

Sufferers have to spend a great deal of time and energy hiding their secret battle and they can feel very alone and isolated.

The physical and emotional consequences of this illness upon the individual can be very serious and the sufferer will often not seek help.

Hows me can offer confidential support and listen to your concerns.  If you are experiencing any of the signs listed below, talk to one of our experts.

Physical Signs

• Severe weight loss
• Periods become irregular or stop
• Difficulties in sleeping
• Frequent dizzy spells
• Complains of feeling cold
• Complains of stomach pains
• Complains of feeling bloated or constipated
• A downy hair growth can develop on arms, legs, face

• Adamant that they are fat when they are under weight
• Irritable
• Becomes obsessed with training harder and longer
• Exercising alone
• Overly concerned and aware of food and its calorie content
• Sets unreasonably high standards and unrealistic targets.

Behavioural signs

• Not telling the truth about eating meals
• Refusing to eat in front of others
• Deny that they are hungry
• Exercising excessively
• Supplying food for others whilst not eating themselves

If you are unhappy about your relationship with food talk to an expert at hows me. We are here to listen and advise. Please ask us to help.

What is bulimia nervosa?

Bulimia nervosa is when people consume large amounts of food and then make themselves vomit and can also take laxatives.

This cycle of behaviour is referred to as binging and purging.
 
The individual is often overwhelmed by their emotions and it is directly related to how they feel about themselves. The binging and purging can be brought on by a set of circumstances or an event within their lives.

Individuals often have problems expressing their feelings or managing their emotions such as anger, depression, stress or anxiety.

It can develop at any age but can often follow an episode of anorexia. it takes a great deal of effort to keep their bulimia a secret.

They are constantly thinking about food and experiencing irresistible cravings for certain foods.

Bulimia is more common than anorexia but not as obvious as some individuals often keep their body weight about the same, whereas others weight can fluctuate.  they dread being fat and desire a body thinner than normal weight.

Bulimia can have long term physical and psychological damage upon the individual.

Some of the physical and emotional signs of bulimia nervosa are,

Physical signs

• Suffers frequent dehydration
• Extreme weight fluctuations
• periods are irregular
• has dental or gum problems
• complains of muscle cramps and weakness
• has swollen salivary glands
• has marks on hands from inducing vomiting

 Psychological signs

• Depression
• Increasingly self critical
• Constantly unhappy about their body
• Dissatisfied with their performance or achievements
• Noticeable mood swings

Behavioural signs

• Consumes large amounts of food and is sick after meals
• Goes to the toilet after eating or disappears after eating
• Starts a diet which does not seem necessary for their level of    activity, health or appearance.
• Takes laxatives or diuretics
• Does not tell the truth about eating and will lie and become more secretive.
• Stealing food or laxatives.

After an episode of binging or rapid food consumption the individual will feel overwhelmed with guilt and the need to reverse the food intake by vomiting, taking laxatives and excessive exercise.

They feel a tremendous amount of anxiety and are highly stressed by their lack of control over their eating behaviour.  In extreme cases people can make themselves vomit between 30 to 40 times per day.

The long term effects of bulimia are very serious such as, poor skin due to poor hydration, bad teeth due to erosion from stomach acid, bad breath, sore throat and mouth ulcers. Taking laxatives can cause serious problems, whilst constantly vomiting can cause muscle weakness, heart problems and epileptic fits.

This behaviour can dominate daily life; individuals can become more isolated, withdrawn and depressed as their illness escalates. Their relationships can suffer; as they hide this behaviour from others they tend not to seek help or support.

People with bulimia nervosa often have low self-esteem and also might try to self harm by scratching or cutting themselves.

To overcome this illness an individual will need to acknowledge that they will have to learn new coping skills to deal with their emotions. They need someone with the knowledge and skills to listen to them in a non-judgemental manner. The first step to breaking their damaging cycle of behaviour is to break their silence in a safe place. You will need to accept that you have a problem and that you need help.

If your behaviour is similar to any of these descriptions you could need help, talk to someone about how you feel. 

 Atypical eating disorders / Eating Disorder NOT Otherwise Specified (EDNOS)

Atypical eating disorders or eating disorder not otherwise specified might affect a large percentage of all the individuals who have developed an eating disorder. People can also be diagnosed as suffering from a ‘partial syndrome’.

In general eating disorders can develop over a period of time, some times over years mainly at a time when life becomes insecure and more frightening.
Atypical eating disorders or EDNOS do not exactly match the description of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. They might have some of the symptoms and the individual might move from one set of behaviours to another.

Binge Eating Disorder known as BED.
Binge eating disorder is one example of an atypical eating disorder, it was acknowledged in its own right as a separate disorder in 1992. Individuals will rapidly consume large quantities of food but will not try to control their weight by purging (inducing vomiting or taking laxatives.). Therefore these individuals often become obese. It is believed that more people suffer from binge eating disorder than anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

People with this illness will suffer from high levels of anxiety and maybe extremely stressed. Their self esteem will be low and they often suffer from episodes of depression. Their relationships can be affected by their illness and they can often become isolated and withdrawn.
Excessive binge eating is dangerous and life threatening and obesity causes many health problems.

Compulsive Eating.
This is when individuals are dependent upon food for emotional support. They might eat food constantly through out the day be unable to stop snacking and feel out of control. These individuals are often overweight which causes them health problems and restrictions to their energy levels and ability to function.
Compulsive eating is a way of the individual denying that they have problems. They often have problems with close relationships and feel worthless, empty and alone. People with this condition feel a great deal of shame about not being able to control their compulsion to eat. These individuals need professional assistance and support to help them overcome their disorder.

Chew and spit.
This is when individuals will chew food and then spit it out rather than swallowing it.  A variation of spit and chew is when the food is regurgitated into the mouth for re-chewing.

Non-Specific.
Some people will eat non food substances such as paper to fill themselves with no calorific intake.

 Get help to manage your relationship with food.

All these behaviours are more common than people like to believe and can be resolved with professional help.

There are a lot of men and woman who have a distressing relationship with food. they use food to try and alter their mood, which it often does but this is very short lived and is then followed by negative feelings.

People who have a damaging relationship with alcohol or drugs can choose to avoid contact with the substance to try and manage their behaviour or addiction.  Unfortunately, food issues cannot be avoided in the same way and have to be addressed up to three times everyday.  People need to eat food to survive and everyone’s day is timetabled around food, whether that is home life, work or school.  Food plays such an important role in our lives and forms our identity from nurturing our loved ones to socialising with our families and friends.  We often have so many happy memories of food and it has frequently been used as a reward and is used for celebrations.

Whatever worries you have about yourself and food, eating or weight we are waiting to help.  We will listen and advise you. If you can identify with the content of this article and have decided that you want to alter your behaviour start today.

Updated: 1st October 2009