What is an eating disorder?
Eating disorder is a mental illness characterized by an anxiety that is unable to adapt and obsessive to the body image, shape, or weight along with excessive eating habits and exercise. It is estimated that approximately one in 20 Australians have eating disorders with eating disorders experienced by 15% of Australian women at some point in their lives. Although more common in women, men are also affected. Eating disorders affect individuals not only mentally, but also physically as complications that may arise can affect all major organs that have physical complications of eating disorders associated with mortality which is higher. The rate for any mental illness is 12 times higher than the ordinary population.
There are a number of different disorders identified under the umbrella of eating disorders and they are as follows:
Anorexia nervosa: it is characterized by a constant restriction of energy consumption, a severe fear of being overweight and a disorder in the way a person’s image is experienced.
Bulimia: characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating, and frequent compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, on a regular basis.
Binge eating disorders: are characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating accompanied by extreme distress and feelings such as feeling of complete discomfort, eating more quickly than usual or eating large quantities of food when you are not physically hungry regularly.
Becca: is characterized by the constant eating of non-food items such as dirt or clay.
Rumination disorder: characterized by frequent regeneration of foods that can be chewed, re-swallowed, or spit out.
Avoiding / Restrictive Eating Disorder: It is characterized by an eating or feeding disorder that manifests in the persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional requirements in conjunction with significant weight loss and significant nutritional deficiency dependent on complementary substances and / or significant interference with psychosocial functioning.
Other specific eating or eating disorders: They are diagnosed when an individual is exposed to nutritional or eating behaviors that cause clinically significant distress or disability without meeting the full criteria for any other eating or eating disorder.
Nonspecific eating or eating disorder: It is diagnosed when an individual has a nutritional or eating behavior that causes clinically significant distress or disability but does not meet the full criteria for any other eating or eating disorder, however, the doctor chooses not to specify the reason for setting the criteria. Not fulfilled.
While these are behaviors usually associated with eating disorder, many individuals with eating disorders may not realize that their behavior is a problem or may go too far to hide their behavior so that signs are difficult to recognize.
There are many factors that may increase an individual’s willingness to develop eating disorders. Two of these are very prominent among individuals suffering from eating disorders, anxiety and perfection.
What is the relationship between eating disorders and anxiety?
It should be noted that research has found that there is a correlation between eating and anxiety disorders with studies that have found that nearly two thirds of individuals with eating disorders have experienced one or more diagnosed anxiety disorders, usually social anxiety disorder, in their lives with most Reporting the onset of their anxiety before they develop an eating disorder. However, while there is a link between clinical anxiety and eating disorders, there is a number of other non-clinical anxiety among those with eating disorders. One of the most obvious concerns found in research related to eating disorders is concern about body image and the ideals portrayed in the media, especially in magazines. This influence of the media usually appears more on women than in men, especially among young adult women more than children or adolescents, suggesting that long-term exposure to such high media during childhood and adolescence lays the basis for concern about body image at the age of Puberty. Although the effect on men has not been proven to be strong, media depictions of the ideal man as trim and muscles may also lead to anxiety surrounding the body image and body dissatisfaction with men. It is suggested that this concern about body image may lead to an eating disorder because individuals conclude that restricted eating and excessive exercise will reduce their anxiety about body image by making their body more in line with the ideals of the body image depicted in the media. This thinking can then lead to irregular patterns of eating and a craze in weight and appearance that develops into an eating disorder. The relationship between anxiety surrounding the body image and the desire to meet expectations and the development of eating disorder can also be strengthened through an ideal figure, and it is worth considering these personality traits that are usually associated with the development of eating disorders.
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What is the relationship between eating disorders and wholeness?
Research has found that individuals with eating disorders usually have a perfect personality and report that these features predate a long period of their eating disorder. Those with a perfect personality usually set unrealistically high standards for themselves in extreme distress if they fail. Individuals with these traits usually criticize their own performance, have difficulty dealing with mistakes and are driven by fear of failure rather than wanting to achieve the goal. This trait is commonly seen in individuals with eating disorders while taking their desire to control their weight and meet the ideals they set, which are likely to be severely affected by the media, to extreme levels to avoid failure. By looking at the effect of body dissatisfaction and completeness on the development of eating disorders, it can be observed that eating disorders in essence are much more than just food and weight, but that problems related to eating and body weight are symptoms that represent a deeper issue with roots with success, and noticeable pressure to reach Perfection.
What treatment is available?
Since eating disorders involve complex problems with both mind and body, it is recommended to take a holistic approach and a team in treatment that includes a number of different professionals. This means that treatment involves returning to a healthy weight, maintaining healthy eating and changing the way an individual thinks about food and themselves. This means that a treatment plan for an individual recovering from eating disorders may include seeking psychological support, medical care, monitoring, nutritional counseling, and possible medications. Ultimately, the goal of treatment is to improve general well-being and ensure that the individual regains their physical and mental health and develops new routines and beliefs surrounding the food and themselves to experience a greater sense of balance and well-being.
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