The modern rhythm and way of life make demandsvery high demands on people's appearance. And, of course, on women's appearance. And women themselves take this problem so seriously that they begin to want the impossible from themselves and their appearance. The key standard of modern beauty is the ideal figure. And this is no accident: we are surrounded by photographs in magazines, TV shows, and videos on the Internet. Ideal images of models, willingly or unwillingly, impose on women the idea that beauty and thinness are equivalent concepts. And this is the first step to what doctors call anorexia: its symptoms are initially indistinguishable from the behavior of an ordinary woman losing weight. Unfortunately, nature has decreed that only a small number of women by nature have external data that correspond to these fictitious standards. And this is precisely why a huge number of representatives of the fair sex constantly heroically fight extra pounds, centimeters, and folds. Moreover, the tools in this unequal struggle are often far from the most harmless methods. Weight loss pills and teas, exhausting physical exercise, starvation – all of this can end very badly. In this article, we will tell you how to distinguish weight loss from anorexia and what its main signs are.
What is anorexia?
In order to recognize the problem in time,It is necessary to know the main symptoms of anorexia. Doctors characterize this disease as a disorder of normal eating behavior, expressed in increased attention to one's own weight and the desire to almost completely limit oneself from eating. People suffering from anorexia are so afraid of gaining even one extra gram that they bring themselves almost to exhaustion. Unfortunately, most often this disease affects young girls, sometimes still teenagers. And this is no coincidence, because they are much more susceptible to external influences than other age groups. These girls exhaust themselves so much with various diets that their weight decreases by fifteen to twenty percent below the norm, and sometimes even more. But even if their weight is as low as it can be, and their health suffers greatly, when looking in the mirror, girls still think that they are too fat. And they continue to torture themselves with the most severe diets. For young girls, such "experiments" are the most dangerous - their body is still growing and developing. And as a result, instead of a beautiful and healthy girl, those around her see some kind of practically ethereal ghost, with pale skin, bruises under the eyes and a whole bunch of accompanying diseases - these are the consequences of anorexia. At a time when there is intensive growth and development of various functional systems of the body - nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and others - as a result of which huge amounts of nutrients are needed, the teenager starves for weeks, which causes irreparable harm to her body.
Symptoms of anorexia
As a rule, the sick women and girls themselvesflatly refuse to admit that there is a problem, so it is very important that the first signs of anorexia are noticed in time by relatives and friends. Otherwise, the pursuit of an ideal weight can end very, very badly: not only the girl's health, but sometimes her life can be at risk. The most important symptom that anorexia has overtaken a girl is a significant weight loss, sometimes in a very short period of time. However, unfortunately, this sign becomes obvious only when exhaustion is dangerously close to the critical mark. Until this moment, it may seem that the woman simply decided to lose weight in very harmless ways. Another manifestation of anorexia, which also in no case should be ignored, is loss of appetite and a significant decrease in the size of the portion of food eaten by the woman. In addition, the girl can very often refuse to eat at all, finding a huge number of excuses - sometimes very plausible: she ate recently, she is tired, her stomach hurts. However, despite this, a person suffering from anorexia can talk about food for a long time and with pleasure: various diets, calories and weight loss strategies. Moreover, many anorexic women spend a lot of time in the kitchen, preparing a variety of dishes. On the one hand, it may seem that sick girls are not interested in food at all. However, in fact, this is not so: thoughts about food occupy almost all their free time. But as soon as they reach the point of putting these thoughts into practice, all their desire disappears somewhere. As the disease progresses, the girl's general health deteriorates significantly. This is manifested in various clinical symptoms of disruption of many body systems.
Causes of anorexia
So who does this disease affect and why?First of all, it is necessary to note the fact that there are several types of anorexia: primary, mental and nervous. Primary anorexia occurs in women due to various organic and physiological pathologies: hormonal dysfunction, neurological disorders, malignant tumors and other diseases. Mental anorexia is caused by various psychiatric disorders: depression, delusional ideas, catatonic stupor, schizophrenia. However, when we say the word "anorexia", most often we mean nervous anorexia. And in this case, the saying "All problems come from the head" is best suited. There are a great many psychological causes of anorexia: these include family characteristics, personal characteristics, and difficulties in communicating with others. Most often, this wide range of problems include:
- Dysfunctional Family Simply put, it's a familywith an unhealthy psychological climate, where all family members either hide their emotions or are constantly irritated with each other. One or more family members often suffer from various kinds of addictions: alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, etc. - No one takes into account each other's needs. Children are either left to their own devices or are under constant authoritarian control of their parents. It is not surprising that in such unhealthy conditions, one of the family members - most often a teenage girl - develops anorexia.
- Negative atmosphere around meals HowAs a rule, the source of this reason is in early childhood. Some parents believe that the child must be fed at all costs, and his reluctance is not an obstacle to this. They begin to force food into the child, and the child develops a gag reflex and a general negative attitude towards food. Because of this, anorexia can begin at a very early age, or it can hide and manifest itself already in adolescence or even in adulthood if there are additional factors.
- Low self-esteem and impaired perceptionof their body All girls suffering from anorexia consider themselves to be ugly, fat, and ugly. Even with very little weight and protruding bones, they feel like they are “completely covered in fat.” But this is more likely a consequence of anorexia, and the reason is that such girls generally consider themselves worthless in life: stupid, weak, uninteresting, and passive. And they try to succeed at least in something, by acquiring a beautiful figure, in their opinion.
- Obsessive and compulsive behavior,perfectionism This trait has very bad consequences during long-term weight loss. Even if it starts as a completely healthy process, due to the excessive desire for perfection, a girl can get so “stuck” in it that she will always seem insufficiently beautiful to herself. And, therefore, she needs to eat even less, and more, and more…
- Unmet need for love and acceptanceIn this case, anorexia becomes a bridge to starting to be liked by other people. This often happens to girls who were overweight. Having started to lose weight, they notice that other people began to reach out to them and show sympathy. This reinforces the positive effect of losing weight, and they become “addicted” to it. And very soon it begins to have a pathological character.
- Fighting obstacles Very interesting pointview on the problem of anorexia was proposed by psychophysiologist Vadim Rotenberg: he believes that it is based on the desire of girls to overcome some difficulties, which are their constant appetite. The girl refuses to eat, thereby defeating it and receiving satisfaction. This is a victory over themselves for them and brings meaning to their lives - this is why, in his opinion, it is so difficult for those suffering from anorexia to give up their pathological behavior.
Dear girls!If you are unhappy with your figure and are planning to try another diet, think carefully whether it is worth risking your health for the sake of some illusory beauty? And if you have already decided to improve your body and fight what seems unnecessary to you, do not forget about the limits of this very fight. Turn on your brain and soberly assess what is happening, since the border between weight loss and nervous anorexia is very, very illusory. It is quite easy to cross it, so if you or your relatives feel any doubt, it is better to play it safe once again and consult a specialist. The most important thing is that you can remain beautiful and attractive in any body and with any appearance, because self-confidence and charisma are much more important than a flat stomach! We recommend reading:
