Anorexia Tips.......................................

Anorexia has been surrounded with misconceptions. The eating disorder is subjected to poor understanding. It leads people to form biases and judgment.  Here are top 10 common myths about anorexia nervosa.

Myth 1

Anorexia is used to get attention.

Fact: People do not develop anorexia as a desperate means to seek attention. It is considered to be maladaptive but anorexia can be a person’s way to cope with something pain in his or her life.

Myth 2

Vanity causes anorexia. When a person suffering from anorexia says, “I feel fat” then it is said to get compliments.

Fact: Anorexia causes people to experience a distorted body image. It is one of the symptoms of the eating disorder. The way a person with anorexia view his or her body is different from the way we see them. They may lose weight but they still continue to think they look fat. Their appearance can be described as looking in a “fun-house mirror”. IT is certainly not an accurate reflection of their real body shape and weight.

Myth 3

People willfully choose to have anorexia not by chance.

All eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, are forms of psychiatric disorder. It can be a coping mechanism for some people who can’t accept their body shape. Thus, it is not a decision made out of nothing. It is a cry for help for acceptance.

Myth 4

All eating disorders are only about food and weight.

Eating disorders and anorexia are not primarily a problem brought about food. In fact, anorexia in itself is only a manifestation of underlying issues in symptoms such as food restriction, fasting, and purging.

Myth 5

Anorexia affects the rich, young and white girls.

Anorexia is not selective on who should suffer from it. A person who is anorexic can be from any race, ethnicity, or economic background. It is not based on gender as well. Both men and women of different ages are known to be sufferers of anorexia.

Myth 6

People with anorexia do not engage in binge eating.

The obsession of thinness results to eating disorders such as anorexia. In order to accomplish this, some people who suffer from the eating disorder may sometimes binge eat. Episodes of binge eating are often followed by an attempt to purge what has been consumed with the use of laxatives, vomiting and excessive exercise.

Myth 7

It is impossible for a person to have anorexia when he or she eats three meals daily.

This myth is certainly not true. Fasting is not the only way for a person to develop anorexia. There are instances when people who are anorexic may pretend to eat during meal times. They can also limit the types of food eaten or the amount of food eaten. A person may eat a normal amount of food for several days but then continue with severe calorie restriction.

Myth 8

You cannot die from anorexia for as long as you exercise to maintain a strong heart and a strong body.

This belief is an attempt for people who have anorexia to convince themselves that their disorder is only normal and acceptable. Supplemental vitamins are often taken to protect their bodies from the consequences of malnutrition. They believe that they can avoid the health risks associated with anorexia. In the end, the health complications of starvation and malnutrition are unavoidable and will inevitably become real. The longer anorexia is ignored by the sufferer himself or herself, the greater the extent of damage done to the body.

Myth 9

Anorexia takes a lot of control.

It is vital to clarify this misconception about anorexia and how it is all about control. A person with anorexia is practically fighting against a battle between the well-controlled food intake versus an uncontrollable fear of gaining weight. A person with anorexia feels he or she is unable to make a difference or influence on certain life events and their outcome. He or she then attempts to control food intake as a means of having familiarity and mastery over an area of life. There are some patients that turn to anorexia as a complex distraction from other painful and unmanageable events and feelings. A recovery process is to adopt other healthier ways to cope with life and its challenges.

Myth 10

Anorexia is only a phase. People suffering from anorexia will soon get tired and decide to eat normally.

Anorexia just like any other eating disorders. It is definitely not normal and can become fatal in the long run. It needs immediate attention from loved ones. Most often than not, it is difficult to determine if your loved one is suffering from anorexia. Most people with eating disorders are good in hiding their condition thus often denies that they are suffering and need help

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According to the Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, anorexia is increasingly prevalent among boys and men, as well as girls and women also suffer from eating disorders.

Some leading symptoms of anorexia are as follows:
• Refusal to acknowledge the minimal body weight
• Dominating fear in spite of being under weight
• Social withdrawal and depression
• Disrupted sleep and fatigue
• Decrease in concentration and attention
• Problems in interaction with people
• Obsession with thoughts of food and weight control
• Lack of self perception
• Frequent disorders in mood, personality and behavior
• Overpowering importance to physical perfection and outlook

Regular treatment of anorexia combines both hospitalization and outpatient setting. At times, severe case of anorexia leads to organ dysfunction, which needs immediate hospitalization. The emergent goal of regular treatment of anorexia is to prevent malnutrition and at times, intravenous feeding is required for this case. Weight management can also be achieved through adopting the nutritional treatment. The treatment aids in gaining at least 3-4 pounds per week. But, the treatment should be based on the overall development of the patient rather than considering only the aspect of weight gain. Some of the potential therapies included in regular treatment are as follows:
• Group therapy
• Cognitive behavior therapy
• Individual therapy
• Family therapy

Anorexia is a common problem arising out of persistent digestion disorder. Anorexia patient, as a result to this, suffers from loss of appetite, unable to eat a proper diet. Also, there is general weakness and problems of sleeplessness. Anorexia affects the overall health. Anorexia is caused due to bad eating habits. Usually women tempted to reduce weight extremely, especially the size zero types suffer from anorexia.

Home remedies, along with psychological medication, helps in treating anorexia and the symptoms related to it. Home remedies for anorexia include apple, ginger, orange juice, lemon, garlic, grapes, warm water, mint, etc. Though extreme cases need medical consultation, yet anorexia can generally be kept at bay with healthy and convenient home remedies.

Some of the remedies of vital importance are as follows:
• Apple: Eating an apple a day stimulates surge of a protein digesting enzymes known as pepsin. This is useful in helping digestion.
• Ginger: Ginger is especially recommended for anorexia because it helps to enhance hunger. Ginger taken with rock salt every day, works miraculously on upset stomach.

• Orange Juice Therapy: Orange juice is not only a thirst quencher but is also a good therapy for anorexia. All you need to do is to have a glass of orange juice after every two hours throughout the day. Follow this for 2-3 days and you will see the worst of digestive system getting into right form. Remember not to take anything else in between. Basically, this methodology will cleanse the system thoroughly.
• Lemon: Lemon works greatly as a system cleanser. One lemon squeezed in a glass of lukewarm water with a pinch of salt, drunk in the morning, cleanses the system thoroughly. Add some ginger juice to make it more effective. Lemon tones up the system.
• Garlic: Take three to four cloves of garlic a day in what ever form like raw garlic, crushed garlic in soup and garlic boiled in water. Garlic helps in anorexia as it cleanses system and increases hunger. It helps in secretion of juices that cleanses digestive system.
• Sour Grapes: Have juice of sour grapes for dual purpose, improving appetite and digestive system. Remember to take this continuously every day for at least three weeks to get effective results.
• Warm Water: Water is the basic remedy to anorexia. Unless your digestive system is not cleansed, you will not feel hungry and your anorexia will not be cured. Water does the first step. Intake of warm water cleanses the digestive system.
• Mint: It is natural appetizer. Only 2 spoons of mint juice in the morning helps to increase your hunger. Within a few days of taking mint juice, you will see a marked change in your eating habit. You will feel more craving for food.
• Asafetida: This is a grandma’s treatment. Since ages, it has been believed that if you take a pinch of asafetida in a spoon of pure ghee, it will solve the problem of anorexia.
• Pineapple: Take a few pieces of pineapple regularly for breakfast and you will feel craving for food throughout the day.

Anorexia home remedies aim at improving digestion, increasing appetite and enhancing overall body health. The best part with home remedies is that they don’t have any side effects and are effective too. It is a must to take them regularly over period of time to reap good results.

Anorexia is a curable problem coupled with the right therapy and diet. You need to take proper diet and cleanse the digestive system. Taking one can easily do this or some of the above mentioned home remedies.

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The choice of the treatment setting depends on the degree of severity of anorexia nervosa. Many patients that suffer from anorexia nervosa often find effective treatment at home, by their local doctor, while some find that they more better chances of recovery from the eating disorder when they seek hospitalized anorexia treatment. But if you have lost so much weight that poses a great risk of your life, you may need to be admitted to hospital. It may also be required to:

• Interrupt steady weight loss or promote weight gain if there has been a history of failure to gain weight in an outpatient care
• Interrupt vomiting and bingeing
• Control weight gain that occurs too rapidly
• Evaluate and treat physical complications
• Address other serious psychological problems reflected by severe depression, suicidal tendencies, self-destructive behavior, or substance abuse

Here is a list of benefits provided by a hospital-based anorexia recovery program:

Daily target and weight gain
The advantage of the stay-in anorexia treatment is to be able to set ad follow through daily targets for meals and weight gain. It also provides a safe environment where food and weight are carefully regularly monitored. The psychological concerns of anorexia are also explored and gradually explored by means of various types of treatments.

Distraction-free environment

The setting of a hospital removes everyday distractions and associations that would otherwise encourage patients to keep seeing food in a negative way and maintain poor eating habits.

Benefit scheme
It is very often common for hospitals or clinics to offer a benefit scheme where the patient is rewarded for eating well. It is a very effective incentive to do well with their program. This type of reward-based therapy serves as a motivation for patients to respond well to this type of treatment.

How to avoid drawbacks after anorexia recovery program at the hospitals
Eating disorder centers can be very effective but they need to have a good program to prevent relapse. Anorexia treatment can take a long time to really change the patients eating patterns and many continue to go to the out patients center for many months after their treatment finishes.

Anorexia treatment can benefit greatly from the support of friends and family. The support system can help to make the sufferer feel that they are not alone and have people that they can talk to. It can make a great difference to the patient and may help them on the path to a long-term recovery.

This is usually a highly recommended avenue and is usually the most effective way to treat a sufferer. Hospitals usually have a team of specialists trained to help and advice so be sure to use them with confidence.

It’s possible to recover from anorexia, but it can be a long process and you may have relapses in times of stress. You may find anorexia difficult to overcome, but with determination, patience and support it can be done.

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Take a look on how anorexia affects loved ones. Anorexia is a mental battle best understood by those who experienced having a eating disorder themselves. Ali battles anorexia for three years. Look at how she feels on anorexia and her life story.

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Anorexia leaves significant bone loss that is not reversed by any conventional treatment.

A study of 130 anorexic women in 20s, found that 92% had ostopenia or bone loss in the spine or hips. Almost 38% of the women suffered bone loss that is serious enough to be categorized as osteoporosis.

A research team in Massachusetts General Hospital found out that hormone supplements such as calcium or vitamin D did not improve bone density of anorexic patients.

Lead researcher, Anne Klibanski, director of the hospital’s neuroendocrine unit shared: “Some of these young women are experiencing bone loss comparable to that of women many decades older, despite estrogen therapy.”

The severity of osteoporosis among women who suffers form anorexia puts more emphasis of the importance of screening.

Irreversible and permanent damage
Signs of bone loss as a direct complication of anorexia nervosa could be permanent.

The mentioned study yielded the strongest predictor of bone loss is shown by the woman’s height, with those weighing least showing greater levels of osteopenia.

One quarter of the participant is undergoing estrogen therapy while more than half had been prescribed estrogen.

Another expected outcome of weight loss is amenorrhea or absence of menstrual period. The absence of menstrual period was reversed in some of the women taking estrogen but the research team found that the hormone had no positive effect on bone density.

Vitamin D supplements with calcium as a treatment had no effect to help counteract the effect of anorexia on the bones.

The study concluded that regaining and maintaining a healthy weight is the key to prevent or reduce bone loss.

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Having a thin body does not mean you are healthy.

Back in the ancient Greek and Roman times when statues were made, curvy and chubby women were depicted to be ideal body image. A few extra pounds on women who look healthy are perceived as beautiful. Fast forward in our modern society, we can’t help but ask how did we end up looking up to an ultra thin body as a norm in our society?

The image of wafer thin models is dominantly seen in the media such as television and magazines. It has been the norm for too long. Actresses and models all strive to achieve the standard and perfect body. Given such preoccupation on body image, it is not surprising for eating disorders to be on the rise. Teenagers are known to be susceptible to eating disorder. By now, they are not the only ones affected by anorexia. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, almost 7 million women and 1 million men are affected with eating disorders in some ways. Anorexia nervosa can turn fatal if not detected and treated. There are anorexics that have to be hospitalized complete with a Peg tube surgically inserted in their stomach in order to have nourishment.

The glamour of modeling tends to encourage young women, and men, to consider eating disorder to have a quick slim down plan. Teenage girls see these extra thin models as their ideal body size. Realistic weight loss are often disregarded in favor of a more drastic and unhealthy slim down plan. We need to remember that not everyone can achieve that super thin body. We should not push our bodies to copy a slim model’s look. It is not just healthy to dramatically lose weight in a short span of time.

The media transmits confusing and terrifying messages to children and parents, alike. Some children start to dislike their bodies and desire to be thin. At a tender age, children are focused on resorting to drastic measures such as food restriction that often compromises their well being and even their lives.

An expert on eating disorder, Abigail Natenshon, writes on her website:

“Camp counselors report that 6 and 7 years olds studying nutritional labels on food items as they empty their lunch sacks. A US Department of Health and Human Services task force reports that 80% of girls in grades 3 to 6 have bad feelings about their bodies, an issue diverting their attention from schoolwork and friendship.”

Parents should foster positive images of their children. Children need to know that it is normal for a teenage body to change and grows, as they get older. Media have a way of presenting unrealistic body image that children should not be striving for.

Here are some suggestions:
• Don’t dwell on physical appearance. Point out to children the necessity of being healthy, not being thinly. Empower your children to know their personality, talents, and skills as significant physical attributes.
• Teach your children to use their critical point of view when it comes to media images. Kid-friendly TV shows can promote ideal images. A researcher on eating disorder, Dr. Linda Smolak, shares that parents should ” Limit television viewing and watch with your children.” “This way you can instantly discuss any positive or negative images both you and your child see simultaneously.”
• Be a good role model. The mind of children is similar sponges, which means that they pick up things that you say or do. It does not matter if you are being subtle or intentional. Simple comments such as complains about your flabs, why you should not have ordered chocolate cake, how you need to exercise an extra hour to burn off the cake; all of these comments have an effect to your children. Your kids are listening and start to view food, exercise, and their bodies like you do. Turn things around by giving positive comments rather on negative ones.
• Encourage an active lifestyle. Teach your children that exercise is a fun activity, not something that you do to keep a slim figure nor for weight loss.
• Encourage healthy food choices. Do not tell your kids that dieting and counting calories are fundamental in life. You can opt to promote moderation such as portion sizes of food. In this way, you aren’t labeling foods as either “good” or “bad”.
• Tune in and listen to what your kids say about their bodies. You should not ignore the complaints your kids say about his or her appearance. You should listen and discuss it with them. Embrace this as a perfect opportunity to talk to your child about why he or she feels this way.
• Emphasize that there are different body shapes; there is not a single ideal body image. It is based on age, genetics, lifestyle, and metabolism.

Share us your thoughts on how to empower your children and steer them away from eating disorders. Feel free to drop comments.

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Watch this disturbing video on how an anorexic sees food.

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Anorexia can be difficult to understand for someone who is not suffering from it or is not a psychologist. It is taken negatively most often viewed as a lifestyle choice or a case of low esteem. You can lend a helping hand to your loved one by being supportive and understanding how you can help them in your own way.

Knowledge is power.

One of the important steps you can take is to research about anorexia. There are numerous websites offering in depth information on the mental and physical symptoms. Thoroughly understand the eating disorder including possible treatments and how you can help your loved one. Knowledge is power especially in this case.

An eating disorder goes far deeper than witnessing a person avoid food and eating it. The motivation of a person suffering from anorexia is driven by the negative feelings and mindset that convinces them to starve themselves. Eating develops into an anxiety-ridden act. It turns into their very worst fear. People suffering from anorexia thinks that a slightest bite of food will cause them to gain weight.

Why are they afraid to gain weight?

The thought of weight gain makes them feel as if they lose control and consequently are failures. Several reasons explain why the fear is so strong depending on the person. It could be a superficial reason such as the desire to be perfect. Starvation can also be a way of coping such as having control when they feel they have no control in any other part in life.

Ask them why they feel to choose to starve.

It is important to know why people suffering from anorexia opt to do this. If they say “because I want to be thin, ask them for a different reason. It is more than just the desire to be thin. It goes deeper than what meets the eye. It is highy likelythat they will either deny their eating disorder or they just don’t want to open up to you right away. All you need to do is to let them know you are their friend who is willing to listen. It will give them an outlet. It might take days, weeks, or even months before they choose to come to you and ask for help. The important thing is that you gave them an option.

Don’t make comments on your own weight issues or diet in front of them.

Consider these don’t you must not commit. It can really be tough for them to hear you say things such as not liking how you look too or counting calories out of fear of gaining weight. Don’t comment on their appearance either. You might tell them that they look fine, for them it means they look fat. You might tell them they look too thin, for them it serves as an encouragement to keep on doing what they’re doing. It is best to avoid making those comments altogether.

Give them understanding.

There are some people who dismiss anorexia as a cry for attention. The truth is that it is a very secretive disorder. They don’t want other people to know that they aren’t eating food off their plates. They tend to hide it by spreading food on their plate or cutting the food into tiny pieces. They may not be consciously asking for help but it is a subconscious cry for help. The physical evidence of weight loss is only a manifestation of the turmoil they are feeling inside. It is their message of saying “I’m lost”. These people are very fragile at this moment. You should understand them. Do not yell at them when you decide to confront them. That is the last thing they need to do. They need understanding and not discipline.

It is certainly frustrating to see someone you really care suffers from anorexia. Do not, however, make them eat by means of coercive or threatening the at the dinner table. You could end hurting them and closing yourself off to them.

Let them make a voluntary decision of entering a recovery center.

You can not force them to enter a hospital or recovery center for treatment of their problem. This could be a different story for minors or if you stand as their parent or guardian. When you threaten them with hospitalization will make them more distant from you. It could be possible that your loved one would give in to your request to seek help. Your loved one may undergo treatment and gain the needed weight just to lose it again. Not unless that person has a desire to recover from anorexia, he or she will just use the treatment to make you think that they’re doing okay and for you to leave them alone. The choice to recover from anorexia can only be made by the person himself, not you or anybody else.

It does not mean you just give up. You can tell them that recovery is worth it with facts and knowledge on how damaging anorexia does to their mind and body. AS I’ve mentioned earlier, knowledge is power. Let them know the consequences they will face in the long run if they choose to remain in the chains of anorexia. Just think of how dangerous it is when the longer a person suffers, the higher the chance he or she could die from heart failure. You don’t want to just sit there and lose your loved one out of neglect on your part.

The fact of the matter is that those suffering are not trying to need his or her life by not eating. Sad oo say, it is their way of coping and is their choice to live. It could be hard on your part on witnessing how a loved one is slowly wasting away.   You must also consider how they must feel going through it. If they know and have that assurance that their family and friends are there for them, it makes their struggle a little bit easier and little less daunting.

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Our mental image of anorexia shows somebody who looks so thin and hungry. There could be more than meets the eye. Anorexia nervosa takes a significant toll on the body. In fact, it has the highest death rate of any psychological illness. Five percent to twenty percent of people develop the disease and sooner or later die from it. The longer a person has it, the higher the chances of dying from the eating disorder.

Did you know that the damage that anorexia creates also reaches in the inside? What, exactly, could happen inside a human body subjected to this grim eating disorder? The bones and heart suffer the most. For those who survive, the disorder can damage almost every body system. Take a look at what anorexia does to the human body.

The bones are the first victim of anorexia.

The disease often develops in adolescence right at the time when young people are supposed to be building up the critical bone mass that will endure them through adulthood. Such bone loss can set in as soon as six months after anorexic behavior starts, and is one of the most irreversible draw back of the disorder.

The heart gets the most life-threatening damage.

Anorexia allows the body to lose muscle mass, at the same time; it loses heart muscle at a preferential rate. As an effect, the heart gets smaller and weaker. When people with anorexia engages in a strenuous exercise, it gets worse at increasing circulation in response to the physical activity, and the pulse and blood pressure get lower. This is the common reason for hospitalization in most people with anorexia.

While anorexia ultimately damages the bones and heart, it is also a multisystem disease. All of the body systems can’t escape its effects. About half of people suffering from anorexia have low white blood cell counts, with about a third are anemic. Both conditions can weaken the immune system’s resistance to disease, placing the person susceptible to infections.

Anorexia damage starts early

Medical consequences have long begun even before a person with anorexia starts to look “too thin”. Young women who start to severely restrict food intake experiences sudden loss of menstruation before serious weight loss sets in. Most of the people suffering from anorexia are teenage girls and young women whose ability to bear children can also be affected.The ability of anorexics to conceive is severely affected based on the rate of recovery. The rate, frequency, and number of pregnancies of fully recovered anorexics are normal.

When we look at fertility clinics having those patients who have infrequent or absent periods, they may think they’re fully recovered but their weight hasn’t gotten high enough. Many women with anorexia would rather select fertility treatment for their eating disorder instead of having the eating disorder treated. Women who have fully recovered from bulimia and anorexia have a slightly higher rate of miscarriages and caesarean sections. In addition to, a 30% higher incidence of postpartum depression as compared to other women.

Damage from Anorexia May Be Reversible
Now that we know the complications of anorexia, here is good news. The key to turn around the complications of anorexia is to return to a normal weight. The main goal for anorexia recovery is to restore the weight to reverse outcomes. It is the most essential part of the treatment and is an essential first step in recovery and treatment.

The common misconception of anorexia is that it is exclusively a psychological disorder. Too many people ignore the medical complications of anorexia not until the patient becomes visibly and lethally thin. Medical practitioners need to understand that a good therapist is only a part of the treatment for anorexia and other eating disorders, and these patients need treatment from a medical doctor as well.

Studies shows that many people who require treatment for anorexia are not actively seeking any treatment. The cost of treatment could be the reason why they chose to remain passive and not seek any treatment. Inpatient treatment can cost more than $30,000 per month, while outpatient treatment can run as much as $100,000 per year.

A huge issue of anorexia recovery is the access to care. The number of sessions for a long-term care can be as many as 40 sessions. In turn, the monthly cost of sessions goes up to $800. Each session can cost. Most health insurance companies only pay for an average of 10 to 15 treatment sessions for people with eating disorders. Eating disorders are not considered to be more serious than cancer. It’s been treated like it’s voluntary and willful as opposed being a serious, life-threatening psychiatric and medical illness.

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Depression is a disorder that can affect anybody at any time in life. It is most often associated as one of the symptoms people with anorexia nervosa has to face and deal with. The symptoms of depression can manifest at the same time when you have been sick for several weeks.

Are eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa related to depression? The answer is a big yes! Depression and anorexia come together hand in hand. Depression can trigger your eating disorder in the first place or you may have gone into depression resulting from the effects that anorexia has had on you.

The person suffering from anorexia can be suffering from depression at the same time. He or she usually feels symptoms of worthlessness, hopelessness and self hatred.  Depression and anorexia robs a person of happiness and self worth and can easily wreak chaos on innocent lives.

A loss of a loved one can trigger a major emotional crisis. When a death takes place, you may experience a wide range of emotions. Many people who suffers from depression report feeling an initial stage of numbness when the realization of death sets in.

You may experience some emotions including:
Denial
Disbelief
Confusion
Shock
Sadness
Yearning
Anger
Humiliation
Despair
Guilt

The forms of depression

Depression is known to be of three different forms, normal, mild, and severe.

Normal depression - This is a natural reaction to the loss of a loved one. It caused sadness, lethargy, and in some serious cases is grief to the point of loss of appetite, insomnia, anger, obsessive thought about the loved one who passed away. The difference of a normal depression from other forms is that most people eventually recover and resume to their typical moods after encountering normal depression. When the mood of the person do not lift and instead lingers, then mild depression sets in.

Mild depression - When a person become chronically depressed, holds low self esteem, and has some symptoms of severe depression, then they are considered to have mild depression. A person with mild depression can still function in daily living. It is hard, however, for them to beat “the blues” Often, the mildly depressed person has nothing to do to be accountable for their altered mood. A person progresses to mild depression when his or her moods do not lift and instead continues.

Severe depression - When a person has a severe depression, he or she feels utterly hopeless and feels such great sorrow resulting to lost interest in life. It causes the person to be incapable to rouse out of bed. The more you try to encourage the severely depressed person to do activities, the person feels anxious, irritable, agitated, and chronic indecisiveness. Similar to mild depression, severe depression often does not sink in after a traumatic event or the loss of a loved one. Intense feelings of grief, guilt, and unworthiness are experienced just the same like the other forms of depression. Untreated depression has an estimated 25% depressed persons try to kill themselves after 5 years of suffering from the chronic mood disorder.

What triggers depression to happen?

The question on finding out which triggered what ends up similar to a game whether egg or chicken comes first. The most important thing is to determine the main cause that triggers the depression currently.

The feelings of helplessness and hopelessness from anorexia can easily aggravate somebody’s moods. The person suffering from an eating disorder feels helpless like spiraling out of control, while desperately searching for control or starvation or purging. These people equate self worthiness to losing enough weight as their ultimate goal.

Approach in treatments

It is a sad reality that we are living in a “pill society” where therapists tend to treat depression alone with drug therapy instead of a more psychological basis. Just like other disorders, depression must be treated along with the eating disorder. Often depression treatment includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that identifies the ten forms of distorted thinking found in depression. Apart from CBT, drug intervention consisting of anti-depressants are used. It includes the famous Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. It is known that a person generally progress well when placed under a medical therapy but depression resurfaces and relapse into old thinking patterns once drugs are discontinued. A very promising result form studies show that depressed people when treated along with CBT are weened off from anti depressants without many problems. The success is attributed to better rationalization techniques along with the use of drugs as a “booster” but not the main part of the treatment. In the end, the person undergoing treatment will learn how to rationalize and use logic to rise above the problems thus no longer needing anti depressants.

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