Anorexia Nervosa
People who have Anorexia Nervosa often have low self-esteem and an extreme desire to control their emotions and surroundings. Quite often the Eating Disorder is a unique reaction to any array of external and internal conflicts, such as stress, anxiety, and unhappiness. Anorexia is a negative way to cope with these emotions.
The person suffering with Anorexia may be abnormally sensitive about being perceived as fat, or have a massive fear of becoming fat--though not all people living with Anoxeria have this fear. They may be afraid of losing control over the amount of food they eat, accompained by the desire to control their emotions and reactions to their emotions. With a low self-esteem and need for acceptance they will turn to obsessive dieting and starvation as a way to control not only their wieght, but their feelings and actions reguarding the emotions attached. Some also feel that they do not deserve pleasure out of life, and will deprive themselves of situations offering pleasure (including eating).
Some of the behavioral signs can be: obsessive exercise, calorie and fat gram counting, starvation and restriction of food, self-induced vomiting, the use of diet pills, laxatives or diuretics to attempt controlling weight, and a persistand concern body image. It is not uncommon for people suffering with Anorexia to wavier through periods of Bulimia (binging and purging) as well.
It is important to point of that there can be a number of ways a person suffering from Anorexia can protray their disorder. The inherent trait of a person suffering from Anorexia is to attempt to maintain strict control over food in take. In a number of cases a man or woman suffering will seem to eat normal meals with only periods or restriction. Anorexics are sometimes known to eat junk food, particularly candy, to drink a lot of coffee or tea, and/or smoke. They may deny hunger, make excuses to avoid eating, will often hide food they claim to have eaten, use diet pills to control appetite, or attempt to purge the food away with self-induced vomiting, or by taking laxatives.
BE AWARE: A sufferer DOES NOT need to appear underweight or even "average" to suffer ANY of these signs and symptoms. Many men and woman with Eating Disorders appear NOT to be underwieght... it does not mean they suffer less or are in any less danger.
Symptoms of Anorexia/Bulima:
1.Dramatic weight loss in a relatively short period of time.
2.Wearing big or baggy clothes or dressing in layers to hide body shape and/or weight loss.
3.Obsession with weight and complaining of wieght problems (even if "average" weight or if thin).
4.Obsession with calories and fat content of foods.
5.Obsession with contious exercise.
6.Frequent trips to the bathroom immediatly after meals (sometimes accompained with water running in the bathroom for a long period of time to hide the sound of vomiting).
7.Visible food restiction and self-starvation.
8.Visible binging and/or purging.
9.Use or hiding use of diet pills, laxatives, ipecac syrup (can cause immediate death!!!) or enemas.
10.Isolation. Fear of eating around or with other people.
11.Unusual food rituals such as shifting the food around on the plate to look eaten; cutting food into tiny peices; make sure fork avoids contact with lips (using teeth to scrap food off the fork or spoon); chewing food and spitting it out, but not swallowing; dropping food into a napkin on the lap to be thrown away later.
12.Hidding food in strange places (closets, cabinets, suitcases, under the bed) to avoid eating (Anorexia) or to be eaten at a later time (Bulimia).
13.Flushing uneaten food down the toilet.
14.Vague or secretive eating patterns.
15.Pre-occupied thoughts of food, weight or cooking.
16.Visiting websites that promote unhealthy ways to lose weight.
17.Reading books about weight loss and Eating Disorders.
18.Self-defeating statements after food consumption.
19.Hair loss. Pale or "grey" appearance to the skin.
20.Dizziness and headaches.