Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders

by Laura Davis

In this article I will discuss different kinds of eating disorders, their causes, their effects on the body and some different kinds of treatment used to manage them. Eating disorders occur when people use eating or not eating as a way to try to control their lives. The three major eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating.

People with anorexia see themselves as overweight even though they are too thin. They avoid food or eat a little food in small quantities. Menstrual periods of women with anorexia are usually infrequent or absent. People with anorexia also tend to over exercise and may abuse laxatives. During a meal, a person with anorexia often cuts food into tiny pieces and chews it very slowly. People with bulimia will binge eat and then throw it all up. People with bulimia usually weigh within a normal range for their age and height, but they fear gaining weight. Binging is uncontrolled eating. One theory is that people binge eat because they are trying to fill a gap made by things missing from their lives. They use laxatives to help them throw up. They feel ashamed when they binge, so they throw it all up for relief. People with a binge eating disorder have recurrent episodes of eating a lot of food within a short period of time. They feel they have no control during the episode, which usually lasts at least two days a week for six months. Binge eaters usually eat alone because they feel ashamed about eating so much when they are not physically hungry.

There are many causes of eating disorders such as low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, fear of becoming fat, depression and loneliness. In our society we see beauty as being thin and having “the perfect body.” The media definitely contributes to this. People develop eating disorders as a way to deal with stress or anxiety. Eating disorders are found more often in females than males. Genetic factors play a role as well as environmental and behavioral ones. Sometimes a mother who is overly concerned with her daughter’s weight will put her at risk of developing an eating disorder.

People with anorexia tend to be perfectionists, good students and excellent athletes who are likely to keep their feelings to themselves. They believe that by restricting food, they gain some kind of control. Binge eaters often are depressed because they feel so much guilt from overeating. People with eating disorders also tend to have a lot of mood swings. Although not all people with eating disorders have these characteristics, most of them do.

Eating disorders can also be caused by biochemistry or the makeup of chemicals in the brain. In the central nervous system, neurotransmitters control hormone production. Depression often results when serotonin and norepinephrine function abnormally. Because the same thing happens in the brain of a person with anorexia or bulimia, scientists believe that these diseases may be related. Some patients with anorexia respond well to antidepressants. People with anorexia produce too much cortisol, a brain hormone. This is caused by a problem near a region of the brain called the hypothalamus. Emotions also pay a huge role in eating disorders. Fear of acting on a certain emotion may bring on an eating disorder. For example, if someone sits and eats a meal and then feels sad about eating, that is an emotion. That sadness might push that person to eat more or to throw up the food. If this is repeated over and over, it could develop into obesity or bulimia.