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... have eating disorders have similar personality traits, including a low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, and a feeling of becoming fat. In eating disorders, it looks as though eating disorders develop as a way of handling stress and anxieties. Anorexics are usually all around good people.
They rarely ever disobey authority, tend to be perfectionists, and are often good students and athletes. It is believed that anorexic people restrict food to feel in control of at least one area of their lives. They have not learned how to deal with the problems that usually come with adolescence and growing up. At first, it seems that controlling their weight has two advantages: they can have control of their bodies and approval of others. Although, most people usually figure out that they are dangerously thin. People who become bulimic usually consume an enormous amount of food to lower stress and relieve anxiety.
However, binge eating brings guilt and depression. Purging can bring relief, but it is only temporary. Bulimics are also more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs. It appears that eating disorders run in families, usually affecting the females. (Byrne, p. 91) This suggests that genetics might have something to do with eating disorders. However, other influences also play a role.
One study showed that mothers too concerned with their daughters' weight might drive them to develop an eating disorder. Also, a lot of times girls with eating disorders have fathers and brothers who are too critical of their weight. Although most anorexics are young women, it can also get to men and older women. Anorexia and bulimia are usually found in white people, but they can affect other racial ethnic groups as well.
People looking to have a profession where it is necessary to be thin are more prone to developing an eating disorder. Eating disorders can be treated the best when they are diagnosed early. However, even if an ill person is confronted or diagnosed, they might still deny the fact that they have a problem. Therefore, anorexic people may not receive attention until they are in a lot of danger. (Neuman, p. 112) Bulimic people are often of normal weight and can hide their illness for many years. Eating disorders in males are usually overlooked because they are not very likely to occur in boys and men.
Because of these facts, getting a person with an eating disorder treated can be very tough. It cannot be said enough times how important it is to get an eating disorder treated right away. The longer the strange eating behaviors continue, the harder it is to overcome their effects. Long-term treatment may be required in some cases. The support of family and friends can be a great help in the treatment of an eating disorder.
It should be reinforced to the sick person that there is nothing wrong with them, so that hopefully they will realize that one day. (Byrne, p. 99) If an eating disorder is suspected in someone, the first thing to do is get the person an extensive physical exam to rule out any other sicknesses. (Byrne, p. 104) If an eating disorder is diagnosed, the doctor must decide whether the patient is in need of immediate hospitalization. While most patients can be treated outside of the hospital, some need constant attention. Some symptoms determining the need for hospitalization include: major or rapid weight loss, serious metabolic disturbances, depression or risk of suicide, or severe binging and purging. Some form of psychotherapy is usually needed to help the ill person deal with their issues.
Any kind of mental health professional meets with the patient alone and provides constant emotional support, while the patient begins to understand and cope. On the other hand, group therapy has been known to work for the bulimic patient. Scientists have examined how effective it is to combine psychotherapy with medications. It was found that both intensive group therapy and antidepressant medicines benefited patients. (Hall, p. 41) The most commonly used antidepressant medications used to treat bulimia are desipramine, imipramine, and fluoxetine. For anorexia, some antidepressant medications may be effective when combined with other forms of treatment. These antidepressants can also treat any co-occurring depression.
Bulimia is a very common eating disorder typically characterized by a person eating large quantities of food then purging usually by vomiting, but also by the use of laxatives diuretics and excessive exercising. The use of cognitive treatment in the treatment of Bulimia is very common and actually very effective. (Hall, p. 75) There are several views that I have reviewed in my quest for information on cognitive treatments for Bulimia. People diagnosed with an eating disorder are said to have developed a schematic obsession with body size and eating. (Brumberg, p. 42) The person in question is obsessed with body shape and fatness. They eat a forbidden food and feel bad about doing so. They feel the only way to correct this is to purge the food from their body to rid themselves of the negative feelings.
This happens until the person is always feeling this way when they eat and always purging. This occurs as part of the Schema and gives no concern to the physical harm being caused to the person. Everything the person sees and does is a direct link to fatness and their body looking bad until it becomes an all out obsession. Since Bulimia is a learned behavior, using cognition is a great way to correct the behavior.
Some things that are used are making the person eat only while sitting at a table no standing while eating Exposure Response Prevention (TERP). ERP is based on the theory that purging produces a reduction of eating-related anxiety; therefore, patients are allowed to eat, but compensatory behaviors are prevented. (Eagles, p. 129) Anti-depressant medication is recommended along with cognitive treatment or else the outcome may not be desirable. So, is important to identify the characteristics of those who will and will not respond to cognitive behavior therapy, so that more effective treatment strategies can be developed. Causes of anorexia can be traced to a number of issues.
Anorexia can be caused by emotional factors, family and genetic factors, cultural factors and psychological factors. (Hoffman, p. 29) There is no one reasons that are the cause; it is a mixture of all the factors together. Many of the cases that have been documented the girls are very hard working, compliant and honest. They can sometimes tend to be obsessive. The reason anorexia starts is because of a trigger effect. Someone or something triggers the person to feel uncomfortable with themselves and their surroundings.
Emotional factors such as depression and anxiety tend to follow the healing process. Along with OCD which is obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder. OCD usually comes before the illness is diagnosed and panic disorder usually follows the treatment of the anorexic. (Byrne, p. 69) The major factor in my opinion is the thought of wanting to look good, with that comes looking skinning, which comes with diet, which leads to anorexia. There are so many factors out there that can trigger a person to want to change it is hard to pin point the one that causes anorexia. Family influences come form the negative aspect only. The negative factors can play a big role in triggering and continuing the eating disorder.
One study found that 40 % of 9 to 10 year-old girls try to lose weight because of urging from their mothers. (Eagles, p. 117) Mothers have the most effect on an anorexic. Fathers and brothers can play their role with criticism and other remarks. Problems surrounding birth may play a part in some cases. In some cases the mother had problems during the pregnancy or after the birth.
After birth if the child is not in a secure attachment with the mother the child is more likely to have weight problems and low self-esteem. Anorexia is eight times more common in people who have relatives with the disorder. Genetic factors are a major concern in experts mind today but they have not yet labeled it the cause. Cultural influences consist of attitudes toward weight and the pressure of athletic expectations. Attitudes towards weight in different cultures play a major role. One fact that proves this statement is that there is no documented case of a black anorexic.
In their culture it is more common to be bigger in size than smaller. In a whites culture it is the smaller you are the better you look. In some countrys obesity is more wide spread and that makes young women want to strive to be skinny. They feel like they have accomplished something, a personal victory. In the aspect of athleticism there is a term for women called female athlete triad it is used to describe the presence of menstrual dysfunctions, eating disorders and osteoporosis, an increasingly common problem in young female athletes and dancers. Treatment for anorexia consists of three steps.
The first step is nutritional therapy, which a nutritional specialist helps the anorexic to gain weight and feel good about it. The second step is individual psychotherapy, which helps the patient understand the disease process, and it effects. The third step is family counseling, which helps the family relate to one and other more efficiently. (Hoffman, p. 182) Each one helps the other to deal with the issue at hand. The three steps help the individual and the family understands what happened and how to make sure it does not happen again. The final step is the most important to the people directly involved.
Getting someone treated for an eating disorder can save that persons life. Everyone in the sick persons life plays an important part in making sure that the person is treated. Encouragement and information about the dangers of eating disorders may be needed to convince the person to get some help. Family members and friends should learn as much as they can about eating disorders, so they can help the person understand their problem. Bibliography: Bemporad, J, Self-Starvation Through the Ages: Reflection on the Prehistory of Anorexia Nervosa, London: Books, Inc, 1999. Byrne, K, A Parent's Guide to Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia, New York: Random House, 1996.
Brumberg, J, Fasting Girls, Michigan: Zondervan Publishers, 1998. Cost, C, Eating Disorder Sourcebook, Lincolnwood, IL: Lowell House, 1999. Eagles, D, Nutritional Diseases, New York: Franklin Watts, 1997. Hall, L, Bulimia: A Guide to Recovery, Carlsbad, CA: Gorse Books, 1998.
Harmon, D, Anorexia Nervosa: Starving for Attention, Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1999. Hoffman, L, Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, New York: Harper Perennial, 1993. Neuman, P, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia, Toronto: Scientific Press, 1993. Winner, S, Eating Disorders: The Facts, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
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Research essay sample on Analysis Treatment Of Bulimia And Anorexia Part 2
