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A variation of Anorexia, Bulimia ranges from excessive food intake, to an out of control compulsive cycle of binge eating where extraordinary amounts of any available food, usually of high carbohydrate content, may be consumed. Once having gorged, the victims are overcome with the urge to rd themselves of what they hate eaten by purging themselves, usually by vomiting, and sometimes by massive doses of laxatives. Between these obsessive bouts, most are able to accept some nutrition. Whereas the anorexic sufferer fears fatness from anticipated loss of eating control, and unlike the anorexic sufferer the typical bulimic individual is not emaciated, but usually maintains a normal body weight and appears to be fit and healthy. However, the obsessive binge purge cycle causes them deep distress, shame, guilt, self-loathing and social isolation, and many will go to any lengths to hide their?
shameful? secret from the family and friends. Typical Sufferers The anorexic or bulimic may be either sex, but the smaller percentage is in males. However the male percentage is on the increase.
Most sufferers come from middle and upper income families, and are usually highly intelligent. Anorexic and bulimic people are often perfectionists, with unrealistically high expectations. They frequently lack self-esteem, with their feelings of ineffectiveness and a strong need for other peoples? approval. Causes There is at present no generally accepted view of the causes of anorexia or bulimia. Most authorities believe the problem to be psychologically based, possibly stemming from family and social pressures, or other forms of stress in our modern environment.
Where a high value is placed on slim-ness, women are most likely to be judged on their appearance, against a heavy background of high carbohydrate junk food promotion. Often, the illness is triggered by a major change in the person? s life. Age and Extent Anorexia tends to start in early the early teens, whereas bulimia usually occurs in the late teens and older age groups. Sometimes bulimia develops out of anorexia, but can occur without a previous history of anorexia. It often persists over many years.
It is known girls as young as 8 years of age had displayed an unhealthy pre-occupation with dieting. The full extent of the problem is not known, but estimates very from one in every hundred school girls with anorexia, to six percent of Australian women with bulimia. Since bulimia is not a physically obvious condition, the numbers could be far higher. Social Isolation People who have anorexia or bulimia have probably been feeling isolated and friendless for a long time.
This may have been one of the factors contributing to their belief that they are essentially unacceptable people. However, the condition itself increases social isolation. Sufferers dare not let people get too close to them in case their real self, which they dislike, is discovered. They cannot tolerate any disruption of their rigid daily routine, which often includes long periods of physical exercise designed to keep weight down, fixed eating times, and carefully hidden arrangements for bingeing and purging. Shared meals and social occasions are shunned for fear of exposing the problem.
For the same reason, sufferers will often reject offers of help. All this leads to increased social isolation. Money Problems The self-starvation / bingeing pattern of eating can be paralleled by attitudes to money and things that money can buy. Some sufferers become extremely thrifty, only buying what can be justified as an absolute necessity. Some, just as with overeating, may overspend, and get into debt. Some will, after long periods of self-denial, possibly start pilfering from family and friends, or perhaps become involved in shoplifting.
Psychological Effects In addition to isolation, the victims suffer from self-disgust, guilt and shame, fear of change, and feelings of inadequacy and rejection. They are lonely, desperate and depressed, and may consider suicide as the only way to end the nightmare. Physical Effects Anorexia and bulimia are serious disorders, which in extreme cases can result in death. Among known adverse physical effects are: ? Loss of menstruation? Breathing discomfort?
Constipation? Loss of sex-drive? Low blood sugar? Receding gums and rotting teeth? Dizziness? Lack of protein leading to edema, loss of hair and teeth, and growth of downy hair on face and elsewhere?
Intestinal infection? Hypoglycemia? Ruptured stomach and esophagus? Chronic sinusitis? Kidney damage? Severe dehydration?
Bleeding and infection of the throat? Gastritis? Ulcers? Abnormal metabolism? Vaginal nerve block? Rupturing of internal membranes?
Bowel tumors? Mega colon? Severe electrolyte imbalance which can lead to neuromuscular problems, including muscle spasms and cardiac arrest? Ruptured facial blood vessels Treatments Contact casualty at major public hospitals in emergencies. Sufferers of both anorexia and bulimia need to realize that they have a serious problem, and require encouragement to take personal responsibility in seeking help. They must learn to accept their strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures, as part of a balance leading to a normal happy existence.
By clinging to their self-destructive behavior, sufferers are rejecting normal participation in life, but can be helped to realize the rewards that a fuller commitment can bring. If the person with anorexia has reached a dangerously low body weight, this physical problem must also be overcome to help achieve normal body function and logical thought. In extreme cases of anorexia this may require hospitalization to enable nutrition to be monitored. Various forms of treatment are available such as psychotherapy, counseling, self help groups, medical and non-medical practices. Treatment often needs to be prolonged and although occasional regressions may occur, the patient needs to accept these positively as part of the process of change for the better, rather than to see them as reasons for continued self-hatred and punishment. The effort to recover is rewarded by the relief that the recovery brings, both to the sufferers and their families and friends.
Support Services? Personal counseling by experienced therapists covering: educational, motivational and dietary aspects of individual situations? Referral to professional treatment agencies? Telephone help and support lines? Provision of educational speakers at health seminars, schools and groups etc. ? Workshops providing training and information?
Provision of information kits for sufferers, care takers and students Meetings Meetings are informal gatherings for sufferers, families and friends, in a safe place for people to be heard and feel understood. A place where they can be offered practical help and encouragement as they move along the road to recovery. Participants have the right and freedom to join in only as much as they wish, and to move along at a pace with which they feel comfortable.
Free research essays on topics related to: physical effects, anorexia and bulimia, social isolation, extreme cases, family and friends
Research essay sample on Anorexia And Bulimia Family And Friends
