The Agony of Anorexia and Bulimia

Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are both eating disorders - often considered psychiatric disorders that result in a number of physical and emotional complications.

Anorexia: - anorexia is a disorder whereby people intentionally starve themselves, even though they are already underweight. These individuals have an intense feat of becoming 'fat', and often see themselves as obese even when they are just 'skin-and-bones'.

Bulimia: - bulimia on the other hand, although very similar to anorexia is a disorder in which people eat large amounts of food during what is called "bingeing", and then try prevent weight gain through induced vomiting, using laxatives or diuretics or following hugely strenuous exercise programmes.

Understanding the disorders

Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa stem from the concern of having too much body fat. Before puberty strikes, both girls and guys have about the same percentage of body fat. And while guys will normally go on to develop a more muscular shape following puberty, girls tend to accumulate it. This causes a preoccupation with weight and a general dislike of their appearance. But don't be led to believe that these disorders are 'girl-specific' .... guys suffer too.

Anorexia Nervosa
At this present moment there are literally thousands of people out there starving themselves, some literally wasting away and exercising themselves to a premature death. There is no-one to blame for this .... it is not an indication that your parents could have done a better job in raising you, or that you could have been a more supportive friend. It's a complex disease, one which we probably know too little about.

Anorexia is not a disorder that can be "snapped" out of - it's an 'addiction' ... once you're 'hooked', you're in serious trouble. We've all heard people say, "oh if only I was thinner", or "if I was anorexic I would never have to feel ashamed about my appearance". Well, these comments are with little consideration to the actual detrimental effects of 'true-life anorexia'. It's no joke guys.... Being or becoming anorexic is not something associated with feeling 'in', sexy or a boost in self-esteem - Anorexics are never happy with their appearance, never feel attractive and battle to 'fit in' because of their dreadful preoccupation with food, food, and more food. They feel trapped, trapped in a body that to them is revoltingly obese. It's a lonely world, one that even sleep doesn't conquer, as they are constantly troubled by dreams of body image, eating and exercise. And worse of all, anorexia, is deadly - it has one of the highest fatality rates of any given mental illness.

Bulimia
Binge eating is probably the more common of the two, however it's characteristics are fairly similar to that of anorexia. People are obsessively preoccupied with food, with an un-ending desire just to eat and eat, followed by feelings of disgust and guilt.

Bulimics are probably not as successful at 'dieting' as anorexics, often loosing control over the power of "not-eating". Days will go by when the bulimic refuses to let a morsel of food pass his / her lips, then all of a sudden -possibly through emotional upset- the bulimic "binges" ... eating anything and everything he /she can lay hands on, and not stopping until they feel fully-stuffed. Somehow compensating for the prior days of starvation.

Who suffers from these disorders?

Anorexia and bulimia seem to be most prevalent in societies that 'bash' obesity, and promote thinness to be The Only solution to a happy and rewarding life. Take a look at all T.V. programmes, magazine and poster adverts. What are they saying? "Glamour, glitz and fashion"; "Lose 30kgs in just 10 days"; "Why look like this, when you can look like this". Pressure guys .. that's all it is, pressure.

Approximately 95% of cases occur in females, developing between the ages of 14 and 18 and more common to the white population. All terrible statistics, occurring at a time when youngsters should be building strong bones, healthy bodies and not be constantly plagued with societies ideas of what the "perfect body" is.

 

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