About eating disorders
In recent decades, female attractiveness has become associated with thinness. It is not surprising that body dissatisfaction and dieting are common even among women of healthy weight. Of course the desire to control weight and shape is of itself not unhealthy.
It is estimated that one in 20 Australian women will suffer from an eating disorder during her life. In this group of women the desire to control weight becomes all consuming. The ongoing pursuit of this goal and the overwhelming relevance of the body in the life of the woman make it not only irrational, but medically dangerous.
The two well-known types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. In each, the specific behaviours and attitudes relate to attempts to control weight and shape by means of restricting food, vomiting food, exercising too much, and abusing laxatives. The illness, like a parasite, takes over their mind, body and life.
In Anorexia Nervosa, the person is clearly underweight, yet convinced she is fat, and is frightened of getting fatter. Sufferers of Anorexia Nervosa show a great resistance to normalising weight, which is not surprising since this involves the very thing that they fear. The weight loss can lead to serious medical consequences, and when severe, mortality rates exceed those of any other psychiatric disorder. The notion that Anorexia Nervosa stems out of vanity and selfishness is a myth, and merely urging them to eat does not work.
In Bulimia Nervosa the person is equally concerned about body shape but is of normal weight or sometimes overweight. The key behaviour is eating an inappropriately large amount of food in a short space of time (binge) followed by compensatory behaviours (most commonly vomiting). These behaviours can cause medical problems in particular electrolyte disturbances in the blood.
Men as well as women can develop eating disorders and though the illness can start in adolescence it may continue well into adulthood. It is essential to seek advice and treatment as early as possible, as eating disorders can have serious physical and psychological consequences.
