Anorexia Warning Signs
According to the South Carolina Department of Health, in America, seven million women and one million men suffer from an eating disorder. To demonstrate the seriousness of an eating disorder such as anorexia, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders cites that 18 to 20 percent of anorexia victims die after 20 years and only 30 to 40 percent completely recover.
What Is Anorexia?
Because of an obsession and fear of becoming fat, individuals with anorexia avoid foods and starve themselves. Even when they are thin to the point of emaciation, they never believe they are skinny enough. Victims of anorexia use exercise, purging, calorie restriction and diet pills to control their weight. Purging is often done after binging on food by vomiting or using laxatives to get rid of the food they've consumed.
Warning Signs
At the onset, it can be difficult to tell whether an individual has anorexia or is just concerned about his weight or diet. However, as the disease develops, the warning signs become more prominent. An individual with anorexia is typically fussy about his weight and body, is always dieting although he is skinny, experiences quick weight loss that appears unexplainable, obsesses about calories or nutrition, conjures up reasons as to why he shouldn't eat, is reluctant socialize where food is present, heads straight to the restroom after eating, eats in secret, wears baggy clothes to mask his thinness, or spends a lot of time before the mirror criticizing his body and complaining about how fat he is.
Hospitalization Signs
Anorexia can require hospitalization if the disease has progressed severely. Family and friends of the anorexic should know what to look for, so they will know if hospitalization is necessary. If the anorexic is extremely depressed and suicidal, is alarmingly malnourished, suffers from medical issues such as a developing disease or health condition, or shows no sign of improvement despite receiving treatment, hospitalization may be appropriate.
Treatment
A combination of nutritional counseling, therapy and group support is the best treatments for anorexia. Therapy includes psychotherapy, which helps the victim get to the root of the reason for her anorexia and teaches her healthful ways of coping with life's stresses. Through nutritional counseling she receives aid from dieticians and nutritionists who help her to set nutritional goals and maintain a healthy weight. Support groups are a good way of reminding her that she is not alone in her battle with anorexia. She gets to interact with others similar to her while learning recovery strategies.
Adolescents' Statistics
A total of 95 percent of individuals with eating disorders are between 12 and 35 years of age, and 50 percent of adolescent girls between 11 and 13 years of age believe they are overweight. Anorexia is the third most frequent severe illness among adolescents.
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