User talk:JaCkAl

Anorexia

Recently on TV shows such as The Insider and The Maury show, we have been seeing and hearing a lot about eating disorders; namely Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and binge eating – especially Anorexia. To some of us, this is a new phenomena; while to others it’s not – whether we know someone who suffered from any of them, or we ourselves did. Although related, I would attempt to talk about each of these separately, starting with Anorexia, since I see it as the most prevalent and lethal one of the three. Anorexia is an eating disorder where people literally starve themselves to death; thinking they are overweight even when they are extremely skinny, very ill, or near death. It usually starts in young people around the age of puberty, and can stay with them as they grow into adulthood – if not treated at an early stage. The disorder usually starts with the individual taking up a diet scheme in order to lose weight, which later develops into obsessive habits and methods for losing weight, such as excessive exercise, starvation, and laxatives intake. Anorexics tend to have an intense fear of becoming fat, and even after becoming very thin, the still themselves as being overweight. The diet habits they take up usually stem up from this fear, although other factors may contribute to it. So what then are the symptoms of anorexia? The following list contains several of these: (although it’s not necessary for an individual to show all of them) •	Body weight below normal – usually 15% below, and inconsistent with age, gender, and height. •	Loss of 3 consecutive menstrual periods – in women. •	Refusing to eat in public. •	Anxiety; weakness; brittle skin; breathe shortness; obsessiveness about calorie intake, and weighing oneself daily.

Of course the disorder and its symptoms have medical consequences affecting the whole body, and several of those are listed below: •	Brain & Nerves: inability to think properly, fear of weight gain, depression, moody, irritability, bad memory, fainting, alteration of brain chemistry. •	Hair: thins and gets brittle. •	Heart: slow rate, fluttering (palpitations), failure. •	Blood: anemia, low pressure, etc… •	Muscles & Joints: weak muscles, swollen joints, fractures, osteoporosis. •	Kidneys: kidney stones, failure. •	Body Fluids: low potassium, magnesium, and sodium. •	Intestines: constipation, bloating. •	Hormones: problems growing, getting pregnant, etc… •	Skin: bruise easily, dry skin, growth of fine hair all over body, get clod easily, yellow skin, brittle nails.

As is apparent, anorexia affects the whole body – killing the person it affects very slowly and painfully. The biggest problem is, that the affected person usually doesn’t see it coming, or worse still – doesn’t know that he is suffering from a “mental” eating disorder, and that he needs professional treatment. So are some people more vulnerable to the disorder than others? It is believed to be that anorexia is most prevalent amongst whites, individuals of high socioeconomic classes, and people involved in activities where thinness is highly sought. Moreover, there are several predispositions that are thought to contribute to the development of the disorder such as several biological factors (including genetics and hormones), individuals’ culture, personal feelings, stressful events or life changes, and families.

Anorexia is a disease that if untreated, can end up with the death of the person who suffers from it. Treatment of anorexia usually involves medical and psychiatric care, since the individual usually has to be lured into giving up his fear of becoming fat, as well as, taking medicine to help reduce the anxiety and depression, and also help him gain back his nutritional health. So what should you do if you think someone you know has this disorder? The best route to take is to try and talk to them when they are in the best possible mood, and even if they refuse to listen in the beginning and claim that they are fine, don’t give up easily and try to persuade them to seek professional help. Up till now, I’ve tried to stick to facts as much as possible; not wanting to influence the information with my own personal beliefs and feelings on the matter. The following though, is all my own opinions and views on Anorexia Nervosa and likely causes leading up to it. First of all, I like to think if anorexia as a psychological disorder that develops through the help of several factors. For an individual to develop anorexia he doesn’t only have to be overweight; his self-confidence and social relations are in most cases pretty low on the scale, and he usually contributes these to the aspect of him being overweight. He thus takes up a diet as a means of gaining self-confidence, self-respect, and also attempt to improve his social relations. Thus he takes up a compulsive diet in order to get fast results, and when in most cases, his aims and goals turn out to be false or go unmet even after he loses weight and becomes pretty thin, he falls into a depression, and goes on believing that he still is not thin enough. Therefore, he keeps going on and on with his weight loss techniques, and refuses the advice of all those around him, telling him that he is overly thin and that he should stop dieting. By the time he realizes that he is sick, it becomes very hard for him to give it up and start to eat normally again. Before I end this, I would like to emphasize on one last point; that is why have this disorder only come to light relatively recently? And who is responsible for its increase? From where I see it, a fair part of the responsibility from the increase in the appearance of this disorder lies on the media. My reasons for thinking so are because lately too much emphasizes has been placed on the beauty of one’s body image, which is aided by the very skinny models used in ads, which lure young people into believing that this is the ultimate goal they should aim for, and that one has to look and act like those models in order to gain respect and popularity with those around them. The media made them forget that beauty is inner, before being outer, and that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Too sum up, Anorexia is real and it is out there, stalking those most vulnerable individuals looking for the “supposedly” perfect image, in a hope of a new and better life. Not knowing that by doing so, they are actually killing themselves and ending their lives.