8 Things You Might Not Know About Eating Disorders
As different as eating disorders may be, they all have one thing in common: eating determines the life of those affected. We reveal 8 things you should know about the disease.
If someone eats more or less than usual, this does not necessarily indicate an eating disorder. Because: eating disorders are much more than just problems with eating. They usually have a psychological background, so that eating or starving becomes a problem solver. We will tell you which other things you should know about the main forms of anorexia, bulimia and blinge-eating.
1. Treatment is complicated
People who suffer from eating disorders are more likely to have fallen victim to a psychological problem than to have freely chosen to do so. Therefore, therapy is difficult even if the people affected are intrinsically, i.e. voluntarily, motivated to change something about their situation. Eating disorders are often concomitant symptoms of mental illness, such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety states or depression. Treatment is therefore always time-consuming and profound.
2. All of life is upside down
Because food intake is already a central part of our lives, an eating disorder puts eating (or not eating) even more in the spotlight. Eating disorders are often a means of avoiding or suppressing internal problems. However, this distraction does not last long: The next overeating attack, the vomiting of meals or an unnecessarily long stay in the gym is virtually pre-programmed. Life revolves more and more around this up and down of redemption and remorse. A normal life is hardly possible anymore.
3. Not only women suffer from eating disorders
Even the supposedly strong gender can suffer from the symptoms of an eating disorder. The pursuit of the perfect body often causes men to lose a healthy relationship with food or even pleasure in general. Another problem: Since our society generally regards eating disorders as a female problem, men are under extreme pressure not to reveal their problems.
4. Expression of psychological problems
The cause of eating disorders is often repressed feelings, needs and experiences. The compulsive use of food reflects an escape from the actual problems and the unspeakable fear of facing them.
5. Eating disorders are more dangerous than you think
If an eating disorder persists over a longer period of time, it can lead to sometimes serious metabolic disorders and other bodily functions. In extreme cases, this can lead to life-threatening situations, because an eating disorder not only puts a strain on the body but also on the psyche. In addition to physical deficiency symptoms, depression and deep-seated anxieties are also experienced, which can even lead to suicidal thoughts and attempts.
6. Self-perception and external image differ
When I look at myself in the mirror: What do I see there, how do other people perceive me? People with low self-esteem and self-confidence tend to be very critical of their own bodies. The reflection in the mirror shows them a fat person – even if friends and family sincerely believe that you are thin.
7. Complicated diagnosis
Eating disorders do not come overnight, but develop over a longer period of time. Dissatisfaction with eating habits, with one’s own body, constant concern about weight and self-induced vomiting or eating fits are already clear indications. In less severe cases one often notices only a dwindling interest of the affected persons in social contacts. You should ask yourself these questions:
- Is my eating behavior an important topic in my life?
- Is my self-esteem strongly dependent on my figure and weight?
- Do I eat in secret or do I prefer to eat when nobody is watching me?
- Do I sometimes eat too much and have the feeling of losing control?
- Do I sometimes throw up when I have eaten too much?
- Have I ever worried because sometimes I just can’t stop?
8. Not every eating disorder is obvious
Unnoticed and underestimated: Many are thin and emaciated, but nobody knows about their eating disorder. Because many affected people usually hide their illness perfectly. This is particularly typical in the case of bulimia, because the patients are usually slim but tend to have a normal weight. Bulimia sufferers usually oscillate between two extremes: strict discipline and complete loss of control. For example, they often do not participate in meals in public, for example under the pretext that they have already eaten. Between these phases, however, there is always a loss of control. This is when bulimia sufferers eat huge amounts, often unhealthy or high-calorie food. Typical for these attacks: they take place in secret.