Common Eating Disorders
Most people consider eating disorders are just simple diets gone wrong. But this is an extremely wrong view. An eating Disorder is not just a phase that a person will leave behind. Eating disorders are very complicated behavioral health problem that can cause an individual life threatening situations if they are left untreated. And it sometimes co-occur with other problem like alcohol abuse as explained by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Most of the time an eating disorder is very hard to differentiate from an ordinary diet.This is because people who are suffering from this issue are used to hiding their illness from others. These disorders include mental illnesses that involve food. Some common types of eating disorders include:
- Anorexia
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Binge eating disorder or compulsive eating disorder or food addiction
Apart from the above mentioned disorders – pica, obesity and other types of dysmorphia also fall in the category of eating disorders even though they are not defined by single pathology.
How Eating Disorders Develop
Eating disorders are usually a result of very complicated fusion of interpersonal, biological, psychological, environmental as well as social factors. Most of the time it is seen that people who develop eating disorders also have body dysmorphic disorder and they have an extremely distorted vision of themselves that is nowhere near the truth. Today, fashion magazines as well as the media promote a preset image of beauty which has a negative effect on the self-esteem and body image of the youth that drives them to eating disorders. This type of focus on weight plays an important role in turning dieting and weight issues into severe mental illness.
One needs to remember that all these eating disorders leave a very deep negative impact on the physical and psychological health of an individual that can only be overcome by professional eating disorder treatment.
Seeking Treatment for an Eating Disorder
An early diagnoses and treatment of an eating disorder is a critical factor which increases the likelihood of recovery and prevents malnutrition from causing chronic medical conditions.
If you or a loved one needs treatment options for an eating disorder , then call our helpline and discuss your options with our treatment adviser today.