Eating disorders are not unusual in this country. Up to 10 million are suffering from them at any one given time. We do not know how many teens suffer from this disorder but we know that teenage girls (14-19) seems to suffer from this problem in large numbers.
The two disorders all of us have heard about are anorexia and bulimia. They involve someone having a very distorted idea of how they actually look. They become obsessed with the food they take in because they are convinced they are too fat. A teenager can be 5′6″ and weigh 90 pounds and believe she is overweight. Anyone who suffers from these disorders may also exercise excessively, believing this will take off more weight.
While the anorexic worries about eating food, the bulimic eats food and then induces vomiting or diarrhea. We have all heard of ‘binge and purge’ behavior.
Worry and preoccupation with self image, coupled with low self confidence usually sets off this behavior. A negative self picture leads the worried person to be concerned about how being ‘fat’ will affect future successes. The future looks bleak due to weight problems. The worrier tries to lose weight to ward off rejection in the future.
Even when we see young actresses and models becoming sick and getting treatment in hospitals, young girls still feel they must live up to the matchstick image. When they are encountering pressures of teenage years, they feel there is one thing they can control and that is their weight. When all else fails, diet.
Listen up carefully. Here are some of the body breakdowns you can experience from anorexia or bulimia:
If not stopped, starving, stuffing, and purging can lead to irreversible physical damage and even death. Eating disorders can affect every cell, tissue, and organ in the body. The following is a partial list of the medical dangers associated with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder: heart irregularities, low blood sugar, fainting, kidney and liver damage, loss of muscle and bone mass which can stunt growth, bad teeth, stop of menstrual cycle, poor skin, anemia, and the list goes on.Instead of helping, anorexia and bulimia gives you a false sense of self confidence. Your family and friends become concerned and view you as sick and out of control. You are so thin that you start to look ill. Toxic eating problems can lead to severe psychological and physical illnesses. You do not want to belong to this group.Work on your worry problems and find other ways to boost your self confidence. Being thin will not solve all your problems. It will not make you more loving, more compassionate, more giving, or even more attractive. It will only make you sick and cause you to fail. You dread failure, don’t you? Say goodbye to starvation and vomiting and forcing diarrhea. Work on being good to those you love and taking good care of your body. Remember the little train? You can and you will.
More to come in future blogs.
[tags}anorexia, bulimia, starving to diet, worry and eating disorders[/tags]