Eating Disorders

An eating disorder is characterized by abnormal eating habits that result in either an insufficient or an excessive intake of food. Since food is life, and the source of energy that fuels your body, a severe eating disorder that results in obesity or malnourishment can create long-lasting health problems. The exact cause of an eating disorder is unknown, but a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors are thought to play a role.

Eating disorders often take one or more of the following forms:

• Binge Eating (excessive eating, even when not hungry or full)
• Starvation (refusing to eat anything for long periods of time)
• Purging (self-induced vomiting or use of laxatives)

Eating disorders can result in massive physical health problems in the future.

We all struggle with eating the right foods and making healthy choices but a legitimate eating disorder is a kind of compulsive behavior that functions like an addiction in that those who suffer from it find it difficult to control their behavior in regards to food. Sometimes it’s a severe psychological distortion, like with Anorexia, in which the person becomes convinced of a distorted view of his/her own body image. Whether it’s a compulsion to engorge on fatty foods or a traumatic self-esteem suppression, it’s important to seek professional help if you or someone you love has an out of control eating disorder.

Any time a habit or area of your life gets out of control, the whole experience can be scary and overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to seek help if you believe your relationship with food has become unhealthy or dangerous. Treatment and recovery programs are available that allow a person to stay in residence for a time to learn new eating habits that ultimately develop a better relationship with food.

Methods for treatment include psychotherapy, nutrition education, and sometimes medical treatment.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment for an eating disorder as it helps to identify the psychological and emotional triggers that contribute to the condition and suggests steps to correct or curb them. Recovery counselors can teach someone how to cope with anxiety and depression in healthy ways. Although there is no such thing as a medication that “cures” eating disorders, there are medications that can help to control appetite and anxiety, which have been shown to help with recovery by making symptoms and temptations more manageable.

Full recovery rates range from 50-85%.

In recovery centers, counselors help patients to identify the areas of their lives that contribute to the emotional need to binge or starve themselves. Full recovery rates range from 50-85%, with many factors in play, but these numbers suggest that treatment is available and recovery is possible. The frist step is simply admitting that you have a problem. Everything else is just the cleanup.

Everything you put in your mouth is processed through your brain and body, making its way to every cell. Your body is capable of many wonderful and amazing things, miracles of biology. Part of a successful recovery from an eating disorder is learning what nourishes you and making choices for health. The more care you put into yourself, the better you’ll feel about yourself and your body.

Food is not something you can quit cold turkey (get it?). That’s called starvation. , so carrying healthy habits and a positive self-esteem into the future is important to avoiding a relapse and descent into further disorder.

Eating is going to be a part of your life forever

Continued counseling is often advised after the treatment process. When addictive behavior is formed in relation to forces as powerful to survival as food, it can take a long time to “de-program” an eating disorder.

Recovery involves patience and persistence.

In order to avoid relapse, it’s important to continue with the training and treatment encountered in the recovery center. Maintaining close ties with friends and family throughout the process of recovery will be crucial for managing diet and behavior patterns going forward. Find new avenues to channel your focus while habits and patterns are slowly formed into your character over time.