Eating Disorders Intervention
Best estimates suggest that one in every one hundred young women in this country has bulimia and a somewhat lesser number suffer from anorexia. Only about ten percent of those with eating disorders are male, but the number is growing.
Warning signs may include:
- obsession with food and body weight
- obsessing over calories (consumed and/or burned)
- bingeing and purging
- eating compulsively, overeating, eating when not hungry, constant nibbling
- exercising excessively, continual dieting
- use of laxatives or fasting to control weight
- guilt, shame, hopelessness
- unrealistic body image
- secretive eating, hiding food, discarding and then retrieving food
- eating habits and weight begin to concern other people
- stealing food
- eating differently in private than in public
- eating as an escape or coping mechanism
- believing that losing weight will make life better
With eating disorders, food is merely the ‘vehicle’. Food is an escape mechanism. The goal is the pleasure/reward response. Although there is a difference between bulimia and anorexia, there is a similar process in the dopamine response in the brain. With bulimia, there is a chemical experience during purging as well. The seriousness of the situation cannot be overstated. Anorexia has one of the highest rates of mortality of any psychiatric condition, an estimated thirteen-percent per annum. It can result in gastrointestinal problems, heart and kidney problems, and infertility.