Download AnorexiaandBulimia

What are the differences between these two diseases and how
can we help those that are affected by it?
 The full name is Anorexia Nervosa, this is an eating
disorder when a person is so obsessed with weight,
body shape and food intake to the point that they
purposely starve themselves.
 Anorexia also mostly develops in young women during
the teenage years, but in recent studies it is becoming
more recent in pre-teen boys and girls.
 Restricting Type: this type is when you restrict calories





by having extreme diets, you fast, and exercise
excessively.
Purging Type: this is done when the person purges (or
vomits after eating), or they use laxatives.
Signs for purging type:
A) Using diet pills, laxatives or diuretics.
B) Throwing up after eating.
C) Compulsive exercising.
 These symptoms frequently develop over a period of
years in both women and men that have certain
genetic, emotional or life-experience predispositions.
 The symptoms have two inter-related patterns:
 A) a conscious refusal to maintain a healthy body
weight for a man or woman for the appropriate age and
height.
 B) Severely distorted self-image, and obsession with
the perception that he or she is over weight, even when
they are under weight.
 Dieting despite being thin.
 Obsession with calories, fat grams and nutrition.
 Pretending to eat, or lying about eating.
 Preoccupation with food.
 Strange or secretive food rituals.
 Dramatic weight loss
 Feeling fat despite being underweight
 Fixation on body image
 Harshly critical of appearance
 Denial that you’re too thin
 Psychological: people that suffer from this are usually
perfectionists and overachievers. They’re the “good”
children, excel in everything they do, always want to
please others and always do as they are told. While
they seem to have it all together, inside they feel
helpless, inadequate and worthless.
 Family and Social Pressures: participation in activities
that demands slenderness, this also includes parents
that are overly controlling, put a lot of emphasis on
looks, diet themselves, or criticize their children's
bodies and appearance. Also stress-full life events.
 Biological: may run in families, if a girl has a sibling
with anorexia she is 10 to 20 times more likely than the
general population to develop the disorder. People
with this disorder have high levels of cortisol (brain
hormone most related to stress), and low levels of
serotonin and norepinephrine (associated with
feelings of well-being).
 There is no simple explanation for the reason of
anorexia, it is a combination of family environment,
emotional difficulties, low self esteem, and traumatic
experiences you have gone through in the past.
 Admit you have a problem.
 Talk to someone.
 Stay away from people, places and activities that
trigger your obsession with being thin.
 Seek professional help.
 The full name is Bulimia Nervosa, this is an eating
disorder when you have frequent episodes of binge
eating, followed by frantic efforts to avoid gaining
weight. It affects women and men of all ages.
 Binge eating is when you consume large quantities of
food in a short amount of time.
 While struggling with bulimia you have a constant
battle between the desire to lose weight or stay thin
and an overwhelming compulsion to binge eat.
 You don’t want to binge eat, you know you’ll feel guilty
afterwards, but time and again you give in.
 During an average binge you could consume between
3,000-5,000 calories in one short hour.
 After it ends, panic sets in and you turn to drastic
measures to “undo” the binge.
 Such as: taking an ex-lax, inducing vomit, or going for
a 10 mile run. All the while doing this you feel
completely out of control.
 Bulimia doesn’t necessarily consist of purging
(vomiting).
 It also doesn’t mean you physically eliminate the food
from your body, by using laxatives, enemas, or
diuretics.
 If you make up for your binge by fasting, exercising to
the excess, or going on crash diets, this also classifies as
bulimia.
 Dieting triggers bulimia's destructive cycle of binge
eating and then purging.
 The ironic part is that the more strict and rigid the
diet, the more likely it is that you’ll become
preoccupied, even obsessed with food.
 When you starve yourself, your body responds with
powerful cravings (this is your body’s way of telling you
it needs nutrition).
 As the tension, hunger, and feelings of deprivation
build, the compulsion to eat becomes too powerful to
resist.
 A “forbidden” food is eaten; a dietary rule is broken.
 With an all or nothing mindset, you feel a diet rule
broken, is a total failure.
 The relief that binging brings is extremely short lived.
 Soon after, guilt and self-loathing set in, and you purge
to regain control and make up for binging.
 Unfortunately purging only reinforces binge eating.
 Lack of control over eating.
 Secrecy surrounding eating.
 Eating unusual large amounts of food.
 Disappearance of food.
 Alternating between overeating and fasting.
 Going to the bathroom after meals.
 Using laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.
 Smell of vomit.
 Excessive exercise.
 Calluses or scars on the knuckles or hands.
 Puffy “chipmunk” cheeks.
 Discolored teeth.
 Not underweight.
 Frequent fluctuations in weight.
 Poor Body Image: our culture’s emphasis on thinness
and beauty can lead to body dissatisfaction,
particularly young women that are bombarded with
images of unrealistic physical ideal.
 Low Self-Esteem: women and men who look at
themselves as worthless, useless and, unattractive are
at risk for bulimia. Things that contribute to low selfesteem are depression, perfectionism, childhood
abuse, and a critical home environment.
 History of Trauma and Abuse: women with bulimia
appear to have a higher incidence of sexual abuse.
People with bulimia are also more likely than average
to have parents that suffer from substance abuse
problems or psychological disorders.
 Major Life Changes: bulimia is often triggered by
stressful changes or transitions.
 Appearance-oriented Professions or Activities: people
that face tremendous image pressure are more
vulnerable to developing bulimia.
 Admit you have a problem.
 Talk to someone.
 Stay away from people, places and activities that
trigger your obsession with being thin.
 Seek professional help.