In reality, the complete opposite is true. The sufferer is generally painfully thin and usually weighs 15% below normal body weight for their height age and build. This disease can begin puberty, but often women of all ages fight the illness on and off for much of their lives.
Symptoms of Anorexia
In addition to low body weight there are other symptoms that can be used in diagnosis. These include the loss of three menstrual periods in a row, anxiety, refusing to eat in public, weakness, brittle skin and sometimes hair loss. There can also be shortness of breath, and low energy.
Medical Factors
Anorexia can lead to shrunken bones, mineral loss, low body temperature, irregular heartbeat and increase the chance of osteoporosis. Girls and women suffering from this disease often end up missing school or work simply because they lack the mere strength to get out of bed. When left untreated anorexia can lead to death by starvation or associated heart ailments.
Cultural Factors
One of the contributing factors to the disease are the mixed messages sent to girls and women about their bodies. Only the thin are considered worthy, fashionable, datable. Only the thin are considered to be hip and ready for anything. Thinness is worshipped in our society to such an extreme that to be other than thin is to risk being alone.
Girls and woman are often taught from a young age that their innate value is tied up with their appearance. Thus, women will often take chances with their health to achieve these often ridiculously high standards of beauty.
Some women also have a distorted image of themselves. They themselves only value how they look in a specific manner and will do anything to achieve that or to keep that look.
Other Factors
Often stress can be a contributing factor in preventing people from eating. These stresses can be caused by everyday things or by serious past trauma that has never been fully healed. It is also important to remember that women are not the only people touched by this illness. Men can and do suffer from anorexia and often share similar body image issues that lead them to not eat.
Treatment
Successful treatment has been achieved through behavioral therapies used to change the behavior at the core. Therapies, in conjunction with behavioral techniques, also help the sufferer to manage the illness and understand why they feel so compelled to not eat. Left untreated, however the stakes are high and can often be deadly.
 |
