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Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Compulsive Overeating Eating disorders have become quite a well-known problem, with millions of people affected. Eating disorders are progressive and incurable and the same type of disease as any other addiction. The sufferer is trapped in a helpless cycle of obsessive and compulsive behaviour and unable to break free of the need to escape feelings and control. Eating disorders are more common than most people think - not everyone with an eating disorder appears to be skeletal, although this does happen in severe cases. Many people with eating disorders are not at death's door and their lives are still relatively manageable, but because eating disorders are a disease that is progressive, the condition will worsen over time to a point where they will need help and their lives begin to fall apart. Many sufferers are able to hide their problem and appear fine to their friends, family and associates. Yet on the inside they are trapped. Eating disorders are also a common problem for people with other addictive habits. Many people seeking drug addiction treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab or treatment for any other addictive behaviours come to realize that they have an eating disorder accompanying their drug problem. There are three main types of eating disorders that are well known and experienced. Aside from these three, many other types of disordered eating are documented including selective eating and body dysmorphic disorder. The three most common types are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and compulsive over-eating. However, most eating disorder patients display traits of all three types as the root problem and this is generally the same in all sufferers, yet the action of dealing with these compulsions may be different. Anorexia Nervosa When an eating disorder manifests as Anorexia nervosa, the sufferer will starve themselves until death. Anorexics have an incredibly low self-esteem and generally suffer from massive self-hatred. They have a need for control and dominate this need by restricting their food intake to virtually nothing, which is of course an irony as an anorexia nervosa sufferer is incredibly out of control in terms of being able to stop. A person can be diagnosed as an anorexic when they have reached a body weight of less than 85% of what their minimum weight should be according to their height and bone structure. Anorexics have many tricks and cunning methods of losing weight and avoidance of eating food. Despite the anorexic being obsessed with food (generally an anorexic will think about food 100% of the time because this is a natural reaction of the body being exposed to starvation), their problem is not with food. Food is the medium through which they are able to fulfill their needs, yet the problem rests within the anorexic themselves in their behaviour. Anorexics have an intense fear of gaining weight and/or getting fat and will do anything in their power to prevent it. Pretending to eat and hiding food, excessive exercising in secret, lying about weight loss and eating habits, wearing baggy clothing to disguise a thin body, distorted body image and excessive obsession with food and calories are all habitual tendencies of an anorexic. Because the disease is so all consuming combined with the immense strain and damage to the body, an anorexic will become extremely depressed and aggressive. Visible symptoms of the disorder are obviously an immense weight loss, stopping of the menstrual cycle (in women), excessive exercising and a fear of food, a fine growth of hair on the body due to the body being incapable of generating its own heat due to lack of fuel and secretive and controlling behaviour around food. Death is the prognosis if the disorder is left untreated.
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