Eating Disorder
By: Catherine McQuade & Wendy Ni
What is it?
Any range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. There are three types of eating disorders. They are Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge eating.
Anorexia
People who intentionally starve themselves suffer from an eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. This usually begins with young people around the time of puberty. They are convinced that they are overweight. This individual suffering from this disorder believes that their body weight, size, and shape is directly related to how good they feel about themselves. The long term effects are skeletal system damage. They suffer from loss of bone calcium and more advanced loss of bone density.
Bulimia
Insatiable overeating as a medical condition. They eat large amounts of foods and then purge. They eat until the point of physical discomfort and pain. They rarely eat normal meals- it's all or nothing when it comes to food. Some long terms effects are heart damage, damages in the stomach, kidneys, brain, ovaries, and bones.
Binge eating
The consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time. You feel like you can't stop eating even if you are uncomfortably full. Unlike bulimia you don't try to make yourself throw-up or exercise a lot after a binge. You may have trouble handling your emotions so you comforts yourself by eating foods. Symptoms include feel upset after you binge, feel like you can't control how much you eat, or eating more than others in same situation. Long terms effects are cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, etc.
Sources of help
-Help from friends
-Family
-Support Groups
-Therapist