THE DARK TRUTH BEHIND EATING DISORDERS

One of the biggest health epidemics that hits teens and young adults in America is chronic eating disorders.

Eating disorders can cause poor mental health in many people, as well as many unhealthy habits. The ages most commonly linked with victims contracting an eating disorder range between 14 and 24, but that doesn’t mean if you’re outside that range it isn’t possible for you to fall victim.

There are many different types of disorders that begin with dietary issues, and how one consumes food. During high school in your average health class, you likely talked a little about dietary problems, but not enough for it to really show you the dangers.

Eating disorders are more common in young females because that’s when many of them start to worry about their appearance. They start to worry about their looks and weight so they acquire these disorders, even if they’re unaware of it.

Males can have these problems, as well, but the problem is not seen among males as much as it is in females.

MENTAL, PHYSICAL HARM

One of the most common eating disorders is anorexia, which causes people to starve themselves and constantly worry about the things they eat. Affected people don’t eat much at all and it causes their brain to start shutting down. They can’t think straight and have a hard time making rational decisions. Thus, the routine becomes an addiction, since they have the idea they can stop whenever they want or that they are in control.

Anorexia can also cause a person’s entire body to be thrown into an unhealthy loop. Victims of anorexia will often fill up on water to get rid of the feeling of hunger and if they do eat, they try to erase any “damage” they’ve done to their bodies by forcing themselves to throw up the food.

Physical symptoms from anorexia includes anemia, which lowers your healthy blood cell count, which in turn lessens the oxygen going through the body. This can also cause hair loss and hair thinning. For women it can cause irregularities in menstrual periods; they will no longer occur at the times expected. Other symptoms known to occur include insomnia, dehydration, gastrointestinal problems, a number of heart problems, bone density loss, food craving, and many more problems with the immune system.

MULTIPLE RISKS

Another common eating disorder is bulimia. Bulimia can be seen as the opposite of anorexia: Someone with bulimia eats frequently and doesn’t even realize it. This excessive eating is commonly driven by emotions – someone with bulimia might eat whenever they’re sad, angry, confused, and even when they’re just bored.

The biggest problem with bulimia is that the person doesn’t realize how much and how often they’re eating until it’s too late, often leading to types of obesity, which can put them at risk for multiple types of cancer. 

Bulimia’s cycle is very different from anorexia. Bulimia can cause a person to hate their own body and how it looks, which causes depression, which leads to even more senseless eating. This cycle is just as dangerous as anorexia, but it doesn’t seem to be talked about as much because it is not as common – plus, the thought of starving oneself is seemingly more dangerous than overeating.

Some common responses to bulimia include excessive exercising. Those with bulimia often wish to get rid of the weight they put on because of their disorder; however, they often overdo it and do more harm than good to their body. People with bulimia will often be less social and will often withdraw from social gatherings or commitment, most commonly because they are ashamed of what they’ve become, in their own mind.

Bulimia often affects the victim’s mental health more often than their physical health. They often eat in secret, or just eat by themselves. They can become quickly irritated by others, too.

Eating disorders are often followed by the same procedure, commonly known as purging. This is the cycle of victims trying to manipulate body weight by forcing themselves to vomit. This can cause many problems for their body, and even makes it harder to recover from the disorders they are experiencing.

FINDING HELP

During a starvation, intentional or not, the human stomach shrinks and prepares itself for the next starvation the body has. It holds onto the nutrients from the small amount of food the individual does ingest.

Because of this, trying to recover from eating disorders isn’t easy. In the case of anorexia, one’s body adapts to being deprived of the nutrition it needs, so it makes changes to make sure they can at least survive with that current diet. This causes the body to handle less food, as it waits for the next starvation.

A victim trying to recover to a normal diet likely will get really sick at first. It’s important for those recovering from an eating disorder to take baby steps and to make sure that people around them are aware so they can help.