Eating disorders are behavioral problems that are characterized by extreme eating. This extremity can either be in overeating or in under eating and at other times people get obsessed with their body weights. They may feel that they are too thin or too fat prompting them to diet hazardously in order to counter the deficit. Eating disorders come in three main types that include bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge eating. In bulimia nervosa, the person eats a lot of food and then feels guilty of the overeating. This prompts the person to induce vomiting, purging or the use of laxatives to bring out the food. This condition could be genetically motivated, societal, or cultural. The complications of this disorder include constipation, dehydration, hemorrhoids, dental cavities, pancreatitis and throat inflammation among others.
In anorexia nervosa, the person is underweight but believes that they are too fat and thus decline to eat any foods with the fear of gaining weight. They develop a deep fear to gain weight even though in real sense they are underweight. This makes them take up extreme exercise, diet and any other method they can lay their hands on in an effort to loose this weight. Some of the causes of anorexia nervosa include hormones and genetics as well as anti-social attitudes. The risk factors for this condition include perfectionism, low self esteem, anorexia in the family line, digestive problems and stress among others. Binge eating is the third type of eating disorders where people are unable to control their eating habits. They overindulge in food and do not seem to stop eating when they should.
Eating disorders are synonymous with adolescents and mostly women will succumb to overeating. As children grow, they reach a point whereby they become too conscious about how they look. In this era, television and billboard ads flash images of extremely thin people looking all glamorous. The youth get misinformed on what beauty really is and that is why they get affected by these disorders. They try hard to fit in the fairy tale picture frame that has been painted for them courtesy of the media. The main causes of eating disorders include anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Some of the repercussions of eating disorders include kidney failure, heart conditions and death in extreme cases. It is important for people with eating disorders to seek treatment as soon as they exhibit such symptoms.
The type of treatment administered will vary in regard to the type of disorder a person has. These treatments include nutritional counseling, monitoring, medications and mental health therapy. In order to get treatment, people must own up to having an eating problem. Many people with eating disorders do not believe that they have a problem and this makes it hard to seek treatment. Some of the recommended treatments for these conditions include therapy which gears at changing the persons perception of an ideal body weight. It also helps them cope with stresses and other factors that may be weighing them down. The society and culture must also desist from putting emphasis on physical perfection.