Eating disorders: bulimia, anorexia and compulsive eating
Whether we are talking about health reasons or aesthetic reasons, body weight and body shape is an issue that concerns most of us. When it comes to eating behavior some people who are afraid that they might gain weight turn to specialists such as nutritionists, psychologists or coaches, other people find the best solutions on their own, but there are also people who can develop mental disorders such as eating behavior. The most common such eating disorders are bulimia, anorexia and excessive eating. These behaviors are considered emotional disorders.
Bulimia is an eating disorder and in the case of bulimia, drastic diets often precede the onset of symptoms. Drastic diets by counting calories and excessive care for body shape and body weight are accompanied by major fear of gaining weight. The manifestation of bulimia is achieved through episodes of compulsive eating in which a very large amount of food is consumed without any control over the amount of food, episodes followed by compensatory behaviors such as excessive physical activity, self-induced vomiting, laxative use, enemas, fasting or teas for weight loss.
Anorexia nervosa is a behavior in which a person has a permanent fear of the possibility of gaining weight even if he eats less than necessary and aims to lose weight at any cost (excessive sports or self-induced vomiting) in particular. when there is a belief that he is obese or overweight, this belief is completely unrealistic. Most of the time, anorexia starts in adolescence or youth.
Indications of anorexia include behaviors such as slicing food into small pieces that remain uneaten, using food from the plate for play, excessive exercise, excessive consumption of laxatives, diuretics or medications to inhibit appetite. There are also symptoms that can be associated with anorexia, symptoms such as dry or yellow skin, fluffy or thin hair, confused thinking, slow and poor memory, depression, dry mouth, bone fragility, excessive sensitivity to cold and weight loss. muscle.
Excessive compulsive eating is a serious eating disorder that can endanger the lives of those affected by this disorder. It is also the most common form of eating disorder regardless of gender, age, social background and ethnicity. It most often occurs around the age of 18-20 and is manifested by episodes of uncontrolled consumption in a very short time of a large amount of food. Later there is a feeling of intense guilt, shame and even disgust, feelings followed by a state of depression. This disorder is accompanied by intense stress and other disorders associated with metabolic syndrome. Most people who suffer from an over-compulsive eating disorder are overweight and obese people, but also people who follow diets without a result.
The treatment of eating disorders sums up different psychotherapeutic solutions. In the case of bulimia there is an innovative solution called the Paradoxical Diet. This is a therapy that fights bulimia by realizing the fantasies that generate the pleasure of eating. Thus we talk about using the imagination to create a mental image in which favorite foods are consumed in a pleasant environment and in a relaxed way. This self-induced suggestion helps to voluntarily choose foods that previously seemed dangerous, thus giving the feeling of self-control. In this way bulimia is defeated by the fact that the person in question chooses in a balanced and controlled way his daily diet, the diet in which his favorite foods are included.
For anorexia, the most effective treatment can be a short strategic therapy as in the case of bulimia. Being a mental illness, anorexia needs the support of a psychotherapist to understand the personal and profound causes that led to this eating disorder. Most of the time the psychotherapist works on the self-image which is distorted, this being the psychic field where anorexia most often develops. Prescription of the symptom is used for eating disorder of excessive compulsive eating, this technique having extraordinary results.
In order to improve the results offered by classical cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy, there is also a promising alternative in the treatment of eating disorders, namely CBT-e. when changing eating habits through an intensive treatment of 40 sessions or a classic treatment of 20 sessions, after which the patient is under a follow-up period of 60 weeks.
