One
of the hardest battles to face is one with your own body and mind. That’s the seemly
endless fight almost 11 million people per year struggle with, the fight
against an eating disorder. Eating disorders can come in different form, such
as binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia. All though often thought of as an unimportant,
“self caused” issue, the severe natures of eating disorders need to be brought
to attention because of the damaging mental and physical affects they can have
on people.
People
argue that eating disorders are just a self-caused problem. No one is physically
forcing you to have an eating disorder. But this is something that has been
classified as a real problem by medical doctors. When you have an eating
disorder, it causes things in your brain to change and people start to think
differently. Harsh consequences can be aftermaths of eating disorders, and that’s
why it needs to be shown as a real problem.
Having
an eating disorder can lead up to more server mental illnesses such as
depression and the thoughts of suicide. That being said, they cannot just keep
being brushed aside. People suffering from anorexia are 50 times more likely to
die because of suicide due to the psychological changes that being severely
underweight can have. Half of all
patients diagnosed with a binge eating disorder have a history of depression.
24% of bipolar patients have met the criteria for eating disorders and 44% have
said they’ve had trouble controlling their eating with their disorder.
A disorder can be defined as a
disturbance in physical and mental health or functions. That being said, an
eating disorder can be critically damaging to physical health, also. Anorexia,
or failure to maintain an adequate body weight and doing so by having excessive
dietary restrictions, can cause medical changes such as bone loss, difficulties
with temperature regulations, low heart rates, low blood pressures, and more.
Psychologically, they can trigger anxiety, depression, social isolation, and
perfectionism. Bulimia, or recurrent binge eating accompanied by compensatory
behaviors such as purging, excessive exercise, and fasting can cause electrolyte
imbalance, tooth decay, and esophageal vicars in the medical area. Anxiety,
depression, substance abuse, and difficulties with impulse control can be some psychological
side effects. Binge eating, which is recurrent binge eating without
compensatory behaviors can cause anxiety, depression, substance use, and more
psychologically. Medically, it can cause obesity and gastric problems.
No
person truly suffering from an eating disorder should have to feel like what
they’re going through is unimportant or not a real problem., Having an eating
disorder is in deed like a battle against yourself. By bringing this to
attention, we can create open options for treatment and encourage to bring about
body peace for everyone.
