EATING DISORDERS
Eating disorders have long been associated with teenage girls and young women, yet therapists report a growing number of older women are developing them or have masked them for years. Late on-set may be a result of women trying to cope with developmental issues, from empty nest and loss of a parent to re-socializing after a divorce. It appears that most cases can be traced back to an untreated or resurfacing eating disorder from adolescence. The number of boys and young men with this disorder is also increasing.
Most people with eating disorders share personality traits: low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, and a fear of becoming fat. In anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, eating behaviors seem to develop as a way of handling stress and anxieties.
Eating disorders can include:
- anorexia nervosa: an obsession with restricting the quantity of food one eats.
- bulimia nervosa: consumption of large amounts of food and then purging.
- binge eating: consumption of huge amounts of food without purging and resulting in obesity.
- orthoexia nervosa: an obsession with eating "proper" foods.
Warning Signs
Concerned you or your loved one has an eating disorder? If the signs are there, it might be time to seek help. Eating disorders can be life threatening.
- Diet - fad, yoyo or excessive dieting.
- Dramatic weight loss.
- Hair loss.
- Preoccupation with thoughts of food.
- Ritualistic eating, such as cutting food into tiny portions.
- Excessive exercise.
- Depression.
- Social withdrawal.
- Laxative abuse.
- Extreme moodiness.
- Skipping meals.
- Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat.
- Distorted body image.
- Hiding or "stashing" food.
- Continually limiting the number of foods eaten