How Do People With Eating Disorders Suffer?

Dear Readers,

In our contemporary society, Eating Disorder has been a source of bewilderment. There is a popular misconception that Eating Disorder is a diet gone too far. Another common misconception is that those who suffer from Eating Disorders are very self-centred and vain people, focused on achieving a perfect body-image at any cost. Let me tell you something that Eating Disorders are one of many brain diseases that include loss of personality, self-worth and life. I can not overstate the intensity of suffering that goes along with Eating Disorders, in simple words; it’s horrific, awful, and terrifying. Please find below an article by Dr Irina Webster that explains how people from eating Disorders really suffer.

By Dr Irina Webster

 

People with eating disorders suffer in many ways: physically, mentally and emotionally. All of them normally feel down although anorexics sometimes feel high in the beginning of the disorder.

The mental suffering significantly diminishes the quality of people’s life. Feelings of fear, inadequacy, and reduced ability to concentrate are common and affect sufferer’s studies, work and relationships.

In severe cases sufferers even leave their jobs or studies because of their inability to cope with every day stress. The coping strategies of eating disorder sufferers are limited to food. They have to binge or starve themselves to cope even with a little stress.

How do they feel if they don’t do it (food abuse)? They feel like an alcoholic who is not allowed to drink or like a drug user who can’t get any drugs. They feel shaky and nauseous, they feel they must do it whatever cost; they can’t concentrate on anything else except of food.

Anorexics on the other hand fear food and perceive food as evil and dangerous. They believe that one single bite of food will make them put on enormous amount of weight. And if they do have a little bit of food they must work it all out by over exercising, enemas, laxatives or vomiting.

People with eating disorders are normally withdrawn and hide their feeling. Instead of identifying, acknowledging and dealing with emotions they blame themselves, feel guilty and anxious. They often compare themselves with others and always find themselves inferior to those people. They always think that other people are doing better then them.

These thoughts produce even more guilt and shame in their soul which makes them turn to food abuse again and again.

Binging and purging appears to be cathartic as it stimulates special reward centers in the brain. These cause a false and temporary relief to their state. Very soon they get addicted to these false feelings of relive and like alcoholics or drug addicts get hooked on the feelings binging gives them.

Anorexics get similar feelings but in relation to starving themselves. They get weird feelings of satisfaction by starvation.

The physical suffering includes constipation, increased sensitivity to infections, stomach aches, headaches, nausea, anemia, kidney damage, very low pulse, cardiovascular disorders and fragile bones due to low skeletal calcium.

Vomiting can cause erosion of the dental enamel and the teeth become corroded and chipped. The throat normally gets very sore and salivary glands can increase in size making the sufferers face puffy and swollen.

The most serious suffering from eating disorders is cardiac complications as it can cause a sudden death even when a person’s asleep. This happens because of the extremely low level of minerals (especially potassium) due to vomiting or starvation. The heart must have potassium and other minerals to work and remain strong. If there is an extreme shortage of potassium the human heart simply stops working.

To conclude, it is important to understand that vomiting and starvation is only a way to add more problems to your existing ones. And one of the best ways to stop doing all these bad things with food is by removing the subconscious blockages you have in your mind that make you bulimic or anorexic against your own free will.

 

Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/How_do_People_with_Eating_Disorders_Suffer.html