- Nobody knows for sure why people get anorexia. People with anorexia may believe they would be happier and more successful if they were thin. They want everything in their lives to be perfect. They blame themselves if they don't get perfect grades, or if other things in life are not perfect. They may also think that they need control in their life by controlling their food intake and their weight they feel like they are accomplishing this. People who get bullied are more likely to get anorexia as bullying can make the person feel worthless and lower their self-esteem. Personal issues such as a death of a relative or friend or if their parents are getting divorced can also cause anorexia. I think the media has a major part to play in people developing eating disorders. In magazines and television models and celebrities are all aiming to be a “size zero” and celebrities who are healthy weight are labelled as fat. This puts pressure on people to be as thin as most celebrities, therefore making them want to lose weight.
- Anorexia is the most common eating disorder. However only 1 in every 100 people suffer from anorexia nervosa, but it is a growing problem. 90% of people with anorexia are women and only 10% are men.
- Anorexia is difficult to diagnose as people with it often attempt to hide the disorder. It is unusual for someone with anorexia to seek professional help because the person may not believe that they have a problem. They will not see themselves as skinny therefore they will not think that they have an eating disorder. They also will not want to admit that they have a problem because they know that it will result in them putting on weight, as you cannot recover from anorexia without reaching a healthy weight. Because of this it is often up to family and friends to inform a doctor about the persons weight loss. The doctor will then ask them some personal questions, like whether they think they are fat or whether they are trying to lose weight. They will also calculate their BMI (body mass index) to find out if the person is underweight and if they have any concerns they will be admitted to CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) or even admitted to hospital if they are extremely underweight or at risk.
- Anorexia may be treated in an outpatient setting or hospitalisation may be necessary. Anorexia can be treated by individual sessions (psychology), group sessions, family therapy, art therapy, OT sessions, dietician sessions and nutrition sessions.
Psychology is considered most important because the psychologist will
understand what the person is going through, what helps them, what doesn’t help and what level of support the anorexic needs.
Group sessions are really helpful because it is when people who suffer from anorexia attend a group where they can get support. This will also ensure the person that they are not the only one who has this illness and seeing other people speak openly about their experiences encourages them to speak openly aswell. This also helps because when you get to know the other anorexics you do not compare yourself as much as you see them as your friend and you want to help them get better. This is a common thing for anorexics as they will do anything to help other people get better and they can give some good advice to other sufferers as they know what they have to do but they cannot manage to do that for themselves.
Family therapy is an important treatment because it will help the family members understand the illness and let them know how their sibling/child is feeling and what they are going through. They will know what helps and what doesn’t help and sometimes they may think they are helping but they can be making things worse. E.g. they may tell the sufferer that “they are looking better/well” but the anorexia will interpretate this as “they are looking fat” as they know that the only reason that they are looking “better” is because they have put on weight. Family therapy will tell the family more subtle ways to tell the anorexic that they are looking “better”, like by telling them that their hair is shiny or their skin looks healthier because there are other ways of looking better other than their weight gain.
Art therapy is another way of communicating, other than talking to someone. It is hard to tell people how you really feel so art therapy is another way of expressing yourself and another way of getting to know the individual. Also because by doing an activity this can distract them so they will think less about what they are saying. This often results in the individual being more open.
OT sessions make the anorexic realise that there is more to life than being skinny. They go out for snacks/meals but the main focus is on the activity that they are doing rather than the food. This is scary at first because some anorexics have a fear of eating in public but as you get stronger you might get asked to buy your own snack from a café/shop.
Seeing a dietician is also important because the anorexic will feel more comfortable if they are following a meal plan and a set routine. As the individual gets stronger they will even move onto “maintenance” which isn’t where they maintain their weight but where it is the patients own responsibility to get their own snacks and meals without any support or any supervision.
Most anorexics have no idea what a portion size is or how much food they should eat as they are so used to eating as little as possible so nutrition sessions is an important part of treatment because it teaches the person what is a “normal” eating pattern.
Some inpatient hospitals treatment scheme is called the rainbow programme. This is where the anorexics weight is labelled as a colour of the rainbow (red being very low in weight and violet being a healthy weight). As the individual puts weight on and moves up the bands they will get more rewards like a longer walk or more home leave.
These treatments are all a part of helping the anorexic recover from anorexia, although I don’t know if anyone can completely recover from anorexia as it will always be a part of their life and always in the back of their mind which is why part of the treatment is relapse prevention work when the individual reaches a healthier weight which purpose is to prevent them from becoming ill again.
- Anorexia Nervosa has some long term effects, these include:
- Anaemia and other blood problems
- Osteoporosis (Brittle bones)
- Kidney stones/Kidney failure
- Low potassium, magnesium or sodium
- Periods stopping (this can mean that the woman is unable to get pregnant or has a higher risk of a miscarriage
- Growth problems
Another long term effect of anorexia is the fact that in most cases sufferers always carry the anorexic thoughts with them, sure they have good times when anorexia is completely forgotten but it is rare that someone fully recovers and never thinks about weight or calories anymore. These are just long term affects there are also more short-term effects.
6) Some people think that only women can get Anorexia Nervosa. This is not the case. It is more common in females but males can also get anorexia as well. Anyone can get anorexia-young or old, male or female. You may not think it will happen to you but it is possible.
