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What
is an Eating Disorder?
APA Let's Talk About... Series
Severely limiting what you eat, vomiting on purpose, exercising
too much, constantly thinking about being overweight and abusing
diet pills and laxatives is unhealthy. People who use these
methods to lose or control their weight often have an eating
disorder.
Eating disorders can be divided into two main categories.
The first is called anorexia nervosa, which involves limiting
what you eat. The second category is called bulimia, which
involves eating large amounts of food (binging) followed by
an urgent need to vomit (purging).
The combination of overeating without purging and exercising
too much to control weight also can be an eating disorder,
although it doesn't exactly fit the categories of anorexia
nervosa or bulimia. Certain types of overeating also may require
medical treatment.
More than 5 million people in the United States have an eating
disorder. Most are women, but some men also develop eating
disorders. Many young people are powerfully influenced by
our culture's belief that "thin is beautiful" and
this can encourage the development of eating disorders. Others
develop eating disorders because they feel their weight is
the only thing in their lives they can control.
WHAT
ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF AN EATING DISORDER?
Some
signs of an eating disorder include:
- Refusal
to maintain weight at a normal weight for height and age
- Intense
fear of weight gain
- Unrealistic
or distorted ideas about how one's body looks
- Strange
behavior around meals, including rituals
- Missing
menstrual periods
- Withdrawing
emotionally from people
- Anxiety
around meal times
- Binging
(eating large amounts of food very rapidly)
- Purging
(getting rid of food by vomiting, excessive exercising or
using laxatives or diuretics)
HOW
ARE EATING DISORDERS TREATED?
People with eating disorders need emotional support and psychotherapy
to overcome their condition. Often, nutritional counseling
and medications also are used. Treatment always should include
seeing a psychiatrist.
Psychotherapy is a series of private talks with a psychiatrist
where a person discusses the feelings, thoughts and behavior
that cause difficulty. The goal of psychotherapy is to help
people understand and master their problems so they can function
better. Psychotherapy can help people with eating disorders
understand why they limit their food intake or why they binge
and/or purge. This understanding can lead to healthier attitudes
about food.
Most people with an eating disorder can be helped in an outpatient
program. People with severe or life-threatening eating disorders
may need to be treated in a hospital.
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MORE INFORMATION…
© Copyright 2001 Medem™, Inc. and the American Psychiatric
Association
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