Anorexia
Anorexia (or Anorexia Nervosa) can affect anyone and results in a person being of low weight due to limiting their energy intake. This means restricting food intake and is often coupled with excessive over-exercise to get rid of food that has been eaten. At times for some, this may be coupled with laxative/diet pill abuse, induced vomiting or cycles of bingeing (eating large amounts of food at once) and purging.
The way someone with anorexia sees themselves is commonly at odds with how others see them – they often have a distorted image of themselves, and think they’re larger than they really are. They experience a deep fear of gaining weight, and will usually challenge the idea that they should.
This mental illness often starts in the teenage years. However, it can develop at any age and continue into later life stages if support and treatment are not accessed.
Eating disorders, such as Anorexia, may occur after a traumatic 'trigger' event such as abuse, bereavement, school/work pressure, relationship difficulties/endings. Many people with anorexia have personality traits including perfectionism and a rigid thinking style which affects how they respond to certain difficulties. Their size, weight or shape may be seen as a focus of control, deflecting attention from the underlying issues.
How someone with anorexia might behave
Restricting the intake of food and drink, counting calories, having ‘safe’ foods, avoid macros or avoid certain types of food e.g. becoming meat free.
Uses exercise or purging to get rid of what that person perceives as excessive calories.
Repetitive or obsessive behaviour around food such as cutting food up into small pieces, eating at specific and exact times of day etc.
Restlessness and hyperactivity.
Avoid eating food that you have not prepared yourself and avoid eating in company. This may start to have an effect on your social life and relationships.
Become defensive and angry when people talk about food, exercise and weight.
Deny you have a problem even when those around you express concern.
Find excuses to skip meals.
What someone with anorexia might feel
Intense fear of gaining weight.
Irritable and anxious, especially around food.
Increased or obsessive interest in diet and nutrition.
Distracted by thoughts of food and eating.
Worry that you are ‘fat’ or overweight despite being told the contrary by those around you.
Low self-esteem.
Increased perfectionism/ rigid thinking
How someone with anorexia might be affected physically
Severe weight loss.
Constipation and abdominal pains.
Dizziness and feeling faint.
Growth of downy hair on the body.
Feeling cold more often.
Discomfort while sitting or lying down.
Dry, rough, or discoloured skin.
Disrupted menstrual cycle in women.
Loss of libido.
Reduction in bone mass possibly leading to osteoporosis.
Effects on mood
It is likely that the person has developed anorexia as a way of coping with or controlling difficult thoughts and feelings. As time goes by, the eating disorder will start to take control. The chemical changes caused by reduced food intake will start to affect their emotions, distort their thinking and may make it hard for them to always see how much the problem is affecting them. This ambivalence, wanting to be free of the disorder but also being fearful of how life or they might be without it, is complex, and makes anorexia difficult to recover from. The added burden of depression affects decision making even further. The weight loss, which was originally seen as the solution, has now become a problem.
Long-term physical effects
Anorexia can have serious long-term effects on physical health. The most common are infertility and osteoporosis. Other serious risks are as a result of starvation and poor nutrition affecting organ function and fertility. If caught early on in their development, these affects can be reversed with improvements to diet and a gradual increase of food intake.
Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any other psychiatric illness, with 20% of people dying every year as a direct consequence of their illness or by taking their own life.
Recovery
Recovering from Anorexia is a not an exact science and often takes a long time, but is worth it. Whilst in recovery people may also experience extreme mood swings and feel more irritable. This is because they will be challenging anorexic thoughts, feelings and behaviours, whilst battling to hear the rational voice that knows recovery is the best option. The rational voice will not always win; they will have good days and bad days. This is recovery. For many people, starting to recover involves looking at what may have triggered the disorder, what emotions and thinking styles you have that may be keeping the disorder going and developing new coping strategies which are non-harmful, to replace the disorder. Ultimately, changing your relationship with food to move towards a balanced approach will allows that person to live a fuller life.
