Freshman Year: sHE beLIEveD & sHE's brOKen

Eating Disorder Information

EATING DISORDERS

They can be deadly if not kept in check. I say that partially to scare you, but mainly because I didn’t know that fact until I started doing my research.

Eating disorders go under the category of mental disorders, and anyone who truly has an eating disorder would agree, it’s all in your head.

Types:

Anorexia Nervosa – refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, an obsessive fear of gaining weight, and an unrealistic perception of current body weight.

People can suffer from this type unconsciously which would be classified as  “atypical eating disorders”

         Anorexia can cause menstruation to stop, leads to bone loss, loss of skin integrity etc. It stresses the heart, increases risk of hear attacks and related heart problems. The risk of death is greatly increased in individuals with this disease.

Bulimia Nervosa- recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as purging (self- induced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives/diuretics, or excessive exercise). Fasting and over exercising may also be used as a method of purging following a binge.

EDNOS- an eating disorder that does not meet the DSM-IV criteria for anorexia or bulimia.

Binge eating disorder- binge eating without compensatory behavior. This type of eating disorder is even more common than bulimia or anorexia.

Now, do not self diagnose…not a good idea. But if you think you have these tendencies, talk to a doctor.

But this is here just for those who have friends who have it or they themselves might be going through it.

         When I first accepted that I had an eating disorder, I had to do a lot of research. I had plenty of questions and wanted to be informed. That’s the best way to help yourself.

         Now, friends and family are most likely not going to understand since as Matt once said, “not eating goes against human nature to survive.” And it’s true. So I will give links below you can go to that might be helpful for you personally or to just understand what a friend or family member might be going through.