How To Know If You Have An Eating Disorder – Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses that anyone can develop, regardless of age, income or ethnicity. See some of the common signs of an eating disorder and where to turn for support if you need help.
According to Beat Eating Disorders an estimated 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder. Eating disorders vary greatly from person to person and can be challenging to identify.
How To Know If You Have An Eating Disorder
Some of the common behaviors that indicate you or a family member may have an eating disorder may include:
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If you are concerned about yourself or someone else, seek help as soon as possible, as this gives the best chance of a full recovery.
Anorexia: Anorexia is a serious mental illness in which people are underweight due to restriction of food and drink. They may develop “rules” about what they feel they can and cannot eat, as well as things like when and where they will eat.
Bulimia: People with bulimia are caught in a cycle of eating large amounts of food (called binge eating) and then trying to compensate for the overeating by vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or excessive exercise (called purging).
ARFID: Restrictive Food Avoidance Disorder, commonly known as ARFID, is a condition characterized by a person who avoids certain foods or types of food, has a restricted intake in terms of the total amount of food eaten, or both. This is generally unrelated to how one views their body.
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Binge eating: Binge eating disorder (BED) is a serious mental illness in which people eat large amounts of food without feeling in control of what they are doing. People with binge eating disorder eat large amounts of food in a short period of time (called binge eating). Unlike people with bulimia, they do not usually follow this up by getting rid of food through, for example, vomiting, although they may sometimes fast between binges.
Contact your GP If you think you may have an eating disorder, you should contact your local GP. They will ask you about your eating habits and lifestyle. If they think you may have an eating disorder, they will refer you to a specialist.
Talk to a friend or family member It can be very difficult to admit you have a problem and ask for help. Start by talking to a friend or family member. You can even take them with you to your appointment to make yourself more comfortable.
Speak to a Counselor The Beat Eating Disorders Helpline is available 365 days a year at the following times:
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Beat uses their helpline to listen to you. They will help you understand the illness and support you to take positive steps towards recovery. They also support your family and friends, giving them essential skills and advice so they can help your recovery while looking after their own mental health.
Beat is also campaigning for Eating Disorders Awareness Week (27 February 2023 – 5 March), in a bid to get all UK medical schools and foundation programs to introduce appropriate eating disorder training. For more information about their campaign visit: https://edaw.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
For children and young people – In Halton, Mersey Care, in partnership with St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and leading national eating disorder charity Beat, provide a Community-Based Youth Eating Disorders Service. It is a specialist service that provides assessment, treatment and support for young people with eating disorders and their families.
Find advice and information to help you stay well and make decisions about your health and social support.
How To Know If You Have An Eating Disorder
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The report looks at people’s experiences and attitudes towards pharmacy services at the start of Pharmacy First. Although considered a byproduct of our society, eating disorders are often mistakenly believed to be a lifestyle choice, creating a negative stigma.
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In reality; however, an eating disorder is a serious and sometimes fatal disorder that can cause a litany of additional problems if left untreated. An eating disorder is a psychological condition characterized by abnormal or irregular eating habits that significantly affect an individual’s health, both physical and psychological.
Although eating disorders can affect people of all ethnicities and ages, they usually manifest during adolescence and are more likely to affect women than men. Although the root cause of eating disorders varies from case to case, they usually result from an interaction of social, biological, psychological, and even genetic factors, often causing an individual to have a distorted sense of body image.
According to the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), approximately 30 million people in the US alone suffer from some type of eating disorder, and as of 2018, eating disorders have the highest death rate of any known mental illness, cementing its national health care status.
As mentioned earlier, unusual and often extreme eating habits are generally a hallmark of an eating disorder. However, this can mean several different things, as there are several different types of eating disorders, each with their own unique characteristics.
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Anorexia nervosa, or simply “anorexia” as it is commonly called, is an eating disorder characterized by extremely restricted or infrequent eating.
People suffering from this disorder are often (or sometimes dangerously) malnourished, while diametrically believing that they are overweight. This distortion can prompt the sufferer to take unhealthy measures to lose weight, such as forcing themselves to vomit after eating or using laxatives. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of the aforementioned eating disorders, and it can be said that it also poses the greatest health risks.
Unlike anorexia, binge eating disorder (or BED) is a perceived inability to control one’s eating habits, resulting in repeated episodes of binge eating on a daily or weekly basis.
People suffering from BED may struggle with obesity and are also at increased risk of developing related complications such as heart disease or diabetes.
How Do I Know If I Have An Eating Disorder?
By combining the behaviors of the previously mentioned disorders, bulimia nervosa is a disorder characterized by frequent episodes of overeating followed by purging attacks (vomiting or using laxatives), starvation or excessive exercise.
Although bulimia sufferers may not be visibly undernourished or obese, they are likely to struggle with ongoing weight-related issues and may have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight.
While most cases of eating disorders follow a certain criterion or set of characteristics, it should be noted that there are unique cases that do not meet the above criteria or have atypical specificities. Consultation with a specialist for a correct diagnosis is especially important in this scenario.
As discussed in previous blog entries, oral health is one of the most important and perhaps most overlooked aspects of one’s overall health with recent studies citing oral complications as a strong indicator in assessing deeper health issues and proper oral hygiene as a key factor in prevention. such problems.
How To Know If I Have An Eating Disorder?
Obviously, dietary habits play a major role in dental health, so it should come as no surprise that dietary disorders can lead to systematic destruction of various internal oral components, usually starting with the gums and throat.
Through frequent bouts of vomiting/purging, (as seen in anorexia and bulimia) the highly corrosive stomach acid will cause the soft tissue in both areas to become irritated and inflamed, causing the throat to become chronically sore, the gums to be excruciatingly sensitive and prone to bleeding. , and the salivary glands in the neck and jaw to swell and struggle to produce adequate saliva.
If the frequent cycle of brushing (or just brushing) continues, tooth enamel will slowly break down and be lost, causing teeth to become more susceptible to damage or eventually succumb to the effects of tooth decay.
In addition to the harmful effects of purging, by significantly limiting one’s diet or food intake, the individual can then be deprived of essential nutrients such as calcium, iron, and B vitamins. This nutritional deficiency further strains the patient’s oral health, as without the nutrients needed to strengthen teeth and fight infection , the likelihood of developing progressive conditions such as tooth decay and gum disease increases exponentially.
Am I Experiencing Bulimia?
Although binge eating disorder may not have as immediate an impact as anorexia or bulimia, BED poses a serious threat to oral health in a different way. Of course, we’ve all heard by now that too much sugar is bad for teeth, and the inability to control food urges is obviously a big problem. However, what exacerbates this problem are the aforementioned complications (heart disease and diabetes) that follow. Diabetes and heart disease are serious health problems in their own right, and both can completely destroy an individual’s oral and (for) overall health if left untreated.
First and foremost, if you or someone you love is suffering from an eating disorder, you should absolutely seek counseling and guidance
