Eating disorder is a condition where a person has an unhealthy relationship with food. This happens due to severe stress or major concern about body weight. This is basically a lifestyle choice which in extreme conditions become fatal.
Types of Eating Disorders:
The most common type of eating disorder includes anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.
Eating disorder mostly develops in teenagers or young adults who are easily influenced by the entertainment industry and unrealistic body size and shape information. It is common in girls who suffer from low self-esteem. These are some serious medical condition and should not be left untreated.
Anorexia Nervosa:
People who have anorexia always feel that they are not thin enough and always try to reduce weight. Such people diet and exercise to the extreme point of starvation. Such people have a completely wrong sense of body image. They always have a feeling of being overweight whereas most of the time they are underweight. People with anorexia obsessively count calories and only eat a tiny amount of food. Such people do not realize their problem.
A person is not anorexic from day one. Normal people who feel they need to lose weight take an interest in dieting and this interest slowly starts to become an obsession.
There are some very prominent symptoms you will find in such people:
- Refusal to eat carbs or fat.
- Drastic weight loss
- Excessive exercise
- Obsessed with counting calories
- Wearing loose clothes
- Complaining about constipation or stomach ache
- Malnutritionin extreme cases.
Anorexia does not look dangerous but in extreme cases it is dangerous. In severe cases, serious complications such as malnutrition and organ failure may occur.
Bulimia Nervosa:
People who have bulimia nervosa develop a habit of binging in large quantity and then purging by vomiting or using laxatives.
Such people tend to over workout due to guilt and to overcompensate for over-eating. People with bulimia are mostly normal weight but they certainly have body image issues. They always have a feeling that they are fat and desperately try to lose weight. Bulimic people avoid showing any such signs in front of others.
Following are certain common signs of bulimia:
- Binge eating in a short amount of time.
- Trips to the bathroom after every meal.
- Avoiding eating in front of others.
- Exercising excessively
- Using mint, mouthwash, and gum.
- Always dieting
- Bad breath
Bulimia can result in arrhythmia if left untreated for a long time. Due to constant purging, the esophagus will get damaged. In an extreme scenario, organ failure is also a possibility. It is important to seek help for such condition immediately.
Binge Eating Disorder:
Let us not confuse the normal behavior of a few episodes of excessive eating with binge eating disorder. People with binge eating disorder have frequent episodes of eating a large quantity of food. Such people feel out of control when they splurge into eating and feel guilty later. Such people are usually the one who keeps mentioning that they are dieting but do not tend to lose weight. They are stressed and are more prone to stress eating. Such people are fat, but they also have body image issues which depresses them more and lead them to binge eat more. This is a vicious cycle.
Common signs of binge eating disorder are:
- Wearing baggy clothes
- Dieting but not losing weight.
- The disappearance of a large amount of food.
Binge eating if left untreated can lead to obesity, hypertension and cholesterol issues.
How to Deal with Eating Disorder:
Recognizing the symptoms of the eating disorder is the first step. Second step is getting help from professionals. Eating disorder is very treatable and reversible if it has been caught early and has not damaged your body in any extremities.
Treatment needs to address physical as well as the psychological aspect as this disorder has developed due to body image issues, depression and extreme stress. But most of the insurance company have physical and mental health under separate umbrellas. This creates a certain confusion and handling these complexities along with the illness itself may be complicated.
Some insurance companies may even refuse to cover the charges. Many companies would be willing to pay only when such disorder displays severe signs. Instead of taking the trouble of handling the insurers, it is better to hire Miami injury lawyer who will take care of all the claim procedures and make sure you get a payment out of the insurance company.
Treatment of eating disorder is not simple as it is mostly phycological. Mostly young girls are prone to have this condition. Treating them with care and making them realise the realistic body dimensions would be the best approach towards treating such condition.
