Eating Disorders

Anorexia

This disorder, a product of intentional weight loss, affects many young females. Usually a person with anorexia will vomit food they have eaten, either intentionally, by ingesting a exsessively unnecessary amount of laxitives, or spontaneously. The main cause of anorexia is young teens that want to look like "supermodels" and feel that they have to lose excessive weight to do so. Some of the symptoms of anoreixa are as follows:

• Weight loss (25% or greater)
• Constipation
• Lack of menstruation
• Loss of fat tissue
• Low blood pressure
• Dental cavities
• Hair loss

Anoreixa is hard to prevent, and it can be fatal. The best antidote to anorexia is counciling, to help the victim re-evaluate their priorities and the importance of being exessively thin. Treatment involves restoring the body to normal weight, and it may occasional involve hosptial treatment.

Bulimia

Bulimia is characterized as excessively uncontrolled overeating and vomiting afterwards. The victim is usually aware that their eating pattern is odd, and they will commonly be depressed when they are binge-eating. They usually vomit or eat in secret, and conceal their problems. Body weight is usally normal or low, but victims will frequently consider themselves overweight. The exact cause of bulimia is unknown. Some of the symptoms of bulimia are:

• Binge eating
• Excessive use of laxatives
• Lack of menstruation
• Overachieving behavior

Treatment works by confining eating habits to more common and consistent feeding times. Counciling can also help to reduce binge-eating urges.

Overeating

Overeating is when a person eats excessive amounts of food, usually to combat depression or sadness, and can be caused by stress.