Eating Disorders Paper

An eating disorder is an illness that causes serious disturbances to your everyday diet, such as eating extremely small amounts of food or severely overeating. People with eating disorder may have started out just eating small or large amounts of food, but at some point, the urge to eat lessened or gained and spiraled out of control. Severe distress or concern about body weight or shape may also signal an eating disorder. ("Eating Disorders." NIMH RSS. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.) Eating disorders include extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. Eating disorders are serious emotional and physical problems that can have life-threatening consequences for females and males. ("Eating Disorders." NIMH RSS. Web. 5 Oct.
As a result, people with binge-eating disorder often are over-weight or obese. ("Eating Disorders." NIMH RSS. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.) Being obese put them at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, Insomnia, gallbladder disease, and gastrointestinal difficulties. Emotionally they experience guilt, shame, and distress about their binge-eating, which can lead to more binge-eating. Socially a child suffering from binge eats deals with isolation, secrecy and interpersonal mistrust. Their cognitive state focus on food and eating, loss of interest in other activities, distorted beliefs about food, eating, body shape and size, memory problems, difficulty comprehending, poor communication and distorted
This translates to approximate 4.7 million females and 1.5 million males who will have their lives threatened by this potentially deadly disorder. While bulimia occurs most commonly in the adolescent and young adult years, it has been diagnosed in patients as young as six years old as well as among older adults. (Statistics on Bulimia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2015.) Teens are increasingly risking their physical and mental health in order to be thin. As they watch T.V or look in magazines most people that they idolize are thin, but not everyone is meant to be a size 2.
Last but not least is Anorexia Nervosa. People with anorexia nervosa see themselves as overweight, even when they are clearly underweight. Eating, food, and weight control become obsessions. People with anorexia nervosa typically weigh themselves repeatedly, portion food carefully, and eat very small quantities of only certain foods. Some people with anorexia nervosa may also engage in binge-eating followed by extreme dieting, excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting, and/or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas. ("Eating Disorders." NIMH RSS. Web. 5 Oct.