“If you would just lose some weight, you would look so much better”, “Please put on some weight, you look like a skeleton”. We have all heard these comments. These comments along with environmental factors lead to the rise of eating disorders. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders stated that someone dies every 62 minutes due to an eating disorder. There are three main disorders. They are as follows:
i) Anorexia Nervosa:
Something that shocked me as I was researching about this deadly disorder is that it has the highest mortality rate. Yes, that is right. Anorexia Nervosa takes more lives than Depression and Schizophrenia. Now, what is Anorexia Nervosa? It is a mental disorder. All three eating disorders are mental disorders. Individuals suffering from Anorexia often view themselves as a lot bigger than they actually are. The fear of being overweight gets to them and they try to lose weight using drastic measures. Measures like using laxatives, inducing purgation and starving themselves to death. This disorder mainly occurs during teenage years or early adulthood. Individuals between the age groups of 15 to 19 years are likely to develop Anorexia Nervosa.
ii) Bulimia Nervosa:
Bulimia Nervosa has two parts to it. A person binge eats a huge quantity of food, nearly 3000 calories or more in a single sitting. After binge eating the person feels guilty, ugly and overweight. Hence, they immediately try to remove all this food from their body via induced purgation, using illegal substances and the use of laxatives. They are unable to stop themselves while binge eating. Individuals between the age groups of 20 to 24 years are likely to develop Bulimia Nervosa.
iii) Binge- Eating Disorder:
In this disorder, the person eats a huge amount of food, even when they are not hungry. Binge eating disorder often gets triggered due to stress, death or a traumatic event. It is used as a coping mechanism where the individual does not face these problems and rather uses food to comfort themselves. Individuals between the age groups of 30 to 50 years are likely to develop Binge- Eating Disorder.
Causes of Eating Disorders:
v A poor self -esteem regarding their body weight and image
v A dysfunctional family
v Peer pressure into looking a certain way
v Careers that require people to look sickly thin such as modelling
v The person could be suffering from another psychological condition like depression, phobia, post -traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder.
The link attached below is a TED talk on Eating Disorders
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