Eating Disorders
Food is essential for our health and development and many of us will experiment with different eating habits during our lifetime however some eating patterns can be damaging. Problems with food can start when you use it to cope with times when you are bored, anxious, angry lonely or ashamed. It becomes a problem when it is used to help cope with painful situations or feeling or to relieve stress, often without you realizing it.
An eating disorder is unlikely from one cause it is more likely to be a combination of thing including low self-esteem, family relationships, problems with friends, the death of someone special, problems at work, college or at university, lack of confidence, sexual or emotional abuse. Many people talk about simply feeling ‘too fat’ or ‘not good enough’.
Often people with eating disorders say that the eating disorder is the only way they feel they can stay in control of their life, but as time goes on it isn’t really you who is in control – it is the eating disorder.
Research has shown that your genetic make-up may have a small impact upon whether or not you develop an eating disorder. Even the attitude of other family members towards food can have an impact. A key person – a parent or relative may unwittingly influence other family members through his or her attitude to food. In situations where there are high academic expectations, family issues or social pressures, you may focus on food and eating as a way of coping with these stresses.
Traumatic events can sometimes trigger an eating disorder: bereavement, being bullied or abused, an upheaval in the family (such as divorce), long term illness or concerns over sexuality. Someone with a long-term illness or disability – such as diabetes, depression, blindness or deafness – may also experience eating problems.
The point is it can affect any of us at anytime and ensuring your mind is healthy will be half way to ensuring your body is healthy and sometimes we need help making sure we keep that in check.
Links: www.haleclinic.com
Loveursoul’s perspective
When Lucy was 20 her life was totally out of control and she was desperately unhappy. One of the many things she used to make her feel more in control was food and for a while she weighed herself daily and controlled her calorie intake meticulously. She became obsessed with exercise and the whole day was measured by the success of exercise and how many calories she had consumed. When she fainted twice in one week she woke up. She is still guilty of using exercise as the control for her food intake and she will not have scales in the house, which she fully acknowledges identifies she still has a fear of control of her weight She now also has an 11 year old daughter and she is very aware of how image concious most girls are and how much a fine line many of them tread. She feels lucky in the knowledge that her daughter has huge self belief and strength of character to know her own body and what is right for her, however she is aware some of her peers are not so fortunate in being in this position and whilst many of us have developed an eating disorder at some time in our life full blown anorexia or bullemia are very diferent and cannot be switched on and off.
The line between having an eating disorder and developing anorexia or bullemia is not something many of us understand but understanding is what is needed in order to know how to prevent it in the first place and how the best way is to help the person suffering if they cross that line.