Eating Disorders and Weight Control
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An eating disorder is characterized by abnormal association of food and body image. The pattern of eating is often an expression of mistaken beliefs as well as false sense of self control. An eating disorder is actually only the symptom of several underline problems in that person’s life. Eating disorders are the result of the interplay among biological, psychological, familial, and societal factors. Genetics, societal pressure for thinness and beauty, low self-esteem, and life stress may all contribute to the development of an eating disorder. The extreme dieting associated with eating disorders begins as a way to gain control and improve self-confidence, but ultimately results in adoption of rigid and tiring rules, obsessive thoughts about food and shape/weight, and disrupted relationships.
Treatment will help you develop healthy relationship with your body and the food you eat. You will discover how to let your body, not your emotions determine what you eat, and learn skills to end negative thughts about your body. By becoming “attuned eater,” you can enjoy a relaxed, satisfying, healthy relationship with food, free of weight obssession.
It is important to note that eating disorders are chronic without treatment and may involve depression, anxiety and impulsivity. spiral2grow of New York City utilizes Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that together with medical help found to be proven and superior form of treatment for eating disorders.
Overview of Eating Disorder
Eating disorders aren’t just about food. They are mental disorders that can become lifelong conditions. They can be deadly. You must get help if you suspect you or your child has an eating disorder. The earlier an eating disorder is treated, the better the chances for overcoming it.
Eating disorders are complex, arising from behavioral, emotional, psychological and social issues. People with eating disorders use their control of food to deal with intense feelings. Ultimately, these behaviors damage physical and emotional health.
Eating Disorders issues: Poor self-esteem, Negative body image, Obsessed about food, Anorexia nervosa, Obesity, Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Binge-eating disorder, Bulimia nervosa, depression, anxiety and impulsivity.
Feed Your Relationship by Getting Help
Although eating disorders vary in severity from mild to life-threatening, they usually don’t go away by themselves. People with eating disorders often fear getting help because it could be seen as a sign of weakness. Loved ones can help break through that by being open to getting help themselves and by examining how they or other family relationships or issues may have contributed. In a family, both fathers and mothers need to be involved in treatment. This challenge needs to be shared.
Serious Distress Signals
The following behavior or symptoms are signals for serious distress:
- Fasts or severely restricts food intake
- Hides or sneaks food
- Spends excessive time in the bathroom after meals
- Vomits, takes laxatives, diet pills or other medications to lose weight
- Has lost a significant amount of weight
- Is tired and depressed
- Can’t concentrate
- Has irregular periods, swollen glands or joints, broken blood vessels or bloodshot eyes.
- Wears layers of clothes even in warm weather
- Faints or passes out
When these or other signs are present, professional help is urgently needed. Make an appointment with a physician and with an expert in eating disorders to find out how serious this is and to design a treatment plan that will help you cope.
Categories of Eating Disorder
There are three major categories of eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge-Eating Disorder, all of which usually begin between early adolescence and early adulthood.
Bulimia Nervosa
- Preoccupied with shape and weight
- Bingeing: Consuming an objectively large quantity of food while feeling a loss of control
- Purging: Vomit, laxative abuse, and/or excessive exercise after meals or binges
- Have many “forbidden” foods
- Try to go as long as possible without eating; skip meals; try “fad diets” to lose weight
- Eat in secret; hide food
- Feel disgusted about your body
- Check shape/weight with daily weighing, pinch body fat, try on “skinny” clothes
- Disrupted social life because you avoid eating with others
Binge Eating Disorder
- Preoccupied with shape and weightBingeing: Consuming an objectively large quantity of food while feeling a loss of control
- Have many “forbidden” foods
- Try to go as long as possible without eating; skip meals; try “fad diets” to lose weightEat in secret; hide food
- Feel disgusted about your body
- Check shape/weight with daily weighing, pinch body fat, try on “skinny” clothes
- Disrupted social life because you avoid eating with others
- Feel ashamed about your eating and want to be more “in control”
Anorexia Nervosa
- Significantly underweight:
- Body Mass Index* less than 17.5 or
- Weight less than 85% of normal
- Intense fear of weight gain
- Absence of menstrual periods
- Self-starvation; try to go as long as possible without eating
- Extremely rigid dieting; many “forbidden” foods
- May include binges/ purges
Body Mass Index is a relationship between weight and height that is associated with body fat and health risk.
Binges typically occur in secret and may include rapid ingestion of food, agitation, feelings of disgust, or a feeling of “being outside oneself”. Binges most often consist of high-fat, carbohydrate-rich, food that the patient considers “forbidden” or “restricted” under other circumstances.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Eating Disorders
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be a superior form of treatment for individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), and other types of disordered eating by multiple research studies. It is more effective than a variety of other therapies and is regarded as the first line of treatment. Cognitive-behavior therapy addresses the psychological, familial, and societal factors associated with eating disorders and is centered around the principle that there are both behavioral and attitudinal disturbances regarding eating, weight, and shape.
Cognitive-behavior therapy directly targets the binge cycle. The therapist and patient will work together to change eating behaviors, to discontinue purging, and to challenge rules that prevent natural and healthy eating patterns. Adoption of more flexible eating patterns and learning coping skills are central to preventing binges. Education about meal-planning, nutrition and the ineffectiveness of purging techniques is often a part of treatment.
Treatment also targets thoughts and feelings that can trigger binge-eating, including perfectionism and “all-or-nothing” thinking. For example, the therapist and a patient might work together to challenge this thought: “Now that I ate a few Oreos at the party, I feel like I’ve blown my diet. I might as well eat the whole bag. I’ll start my diet over again tomorrow.”
Treament will help you develop healthy relationship with your body and the food you eat. You will discover how to let your body, not your emtons determine what you eat, and learn skills to end negative thughts about your body. Treatment sessions also focus on learning coping skills for stress or negative moods to decrease the likelihood that negative events will trigger a binge. Cognitive-behavior treatment also works to improve body image.
A final phase of treatment is relapse prevention, during which the therapist and patient together develop and practice strategies to maintain progress and to prevent a relapse to bingeing, purging, and unhealthy eating habits.
Resources
- The Academy for Eating Disorders – http://www.aedweb.org – The academy of Eating Disorder is a global professional association committed to leadership in eating disorders research, education, treatment, and prevention
- Readings
- The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person by Judith Beck
- Nutrition Myths and Tips by Ms. Helen Butleroff-Leahy
- Overcoming Your Eating Disorder: A Cognitive-behavioral Therapy Approach for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-eating Disorder
