Information on Eating Disorders

EATING DISORDERS WHAT ARE THEY?
psychological illnesses defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. They are not merely "dieting" or "emotional eating", it's a whole new level of those. 

BULIMIA
Bulimia nervosa is a disorder characterized by binge eating and purging. Purging can include self-induced vomiting, over-exercising, and the usage of diuretics, enemas, and laxatives. Not all Bulimics are underweight, but most are undernourished.

Side effects include : Damage to gums, Damage to esophagus (due to stomach acid), Fainting, Dry skin, Irregular heartbeat, Isolation from people, Feeling low most of the time, etc.

ANOREXIA
Anorexia simply refers to the strict restriction of certain or all foods OR binge-purge characteristic (Bulimia) . Some anorexics avoid carbohydrates, some avoid fats, some avoid white bread, the list goes on forever. They are generally severely underweight and malnourished.

From experience (sadly...), side effects include: Hair loss, Loss of menses in females, Feeling cold all the time, Visible veins, Lethargic feeling (only after the anorexia has been there for quite a while...), Isolation from people, Loss of interest in socializing and past hobbies, Feeling low most of the time, etc.

*ANOREXIA =/= DIETING


BINGE EATING DISORDER
BED is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating without subsequent purging episodes. The disorder was first described in 1959 by psychiatrist and researcher Albert Stunkard as "night eating syndrome" (NES), and the term "binge eating disorder" was coined to describe the same binging-type eating behavior without the exclusive nocturnal component. BED usually leads to obesity although it can occur in normal weight individuals. There may be a genetic inheritance factor involved in BED independent of other obesity risks and there is also a higher incidence of psychiatric comorbidity, with the percentage of individuals with BED and an Axis I comorbid psychiatric disorder being 78.9% and 63.6% for those with subclinical BED.

* BED =/= EMOTIONAL EATING

MY OPINIONS
Eating disorders are very much related to mental well being. Many with eating disorders do ave other psychological illnesses such as depression. There is a theory that it is due to the imbalance of certain chemicals in our heads that triggers psychological illnesses such as eating disorders. And I believe in that. To the rest of the ED warriors out there, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT YOU HAVE AN EATING DISORDER. Like how you wont blame someone for getting a flu, or how you wont blame someone for having autism, or how you won't blame someone for having cancer, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Never blame yourself. That has helped me a lot in my recovery, because of this I've come to realize my worth and decide to recover instead of hating myself. Eating disorders are no joke, NEVER BE A PRO-ANA OR PRO-ED. It's like why would anyone be Pro-cancer? Exactly. So if you're a PRO-ED, STOP WORSHIPING THE SICKNESS THAT KILLS SO MANY PEOPLE. There's so much more to life than being thin. Really having experienced ED and recovery, you won't want to Go through it. Recovery is tough, so don't fall into ED if you don't want to waste like a year of your life struggling with recovery. :( Please take my words seriously! 

For More Information, please do Google up local hospital websites or other health webpages! :)