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Eating disorders

VLE 5.2.13This presentation will introduce you tothe subject and take you to websites to link in with for further information

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WHAT ARE EATING DISORDERS?

Food becomes a problem when it is used to help cope with painful situations or feelings, or to relieve stress

It is likely to be a combination of many factors, events, feelings or pressures which lead the person to feel unable to cope

These can include: 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

Triggers could be:

Simply ‘feeling too fat’ or ‘not good enough’

Teasing or bullying around weight and shape

Wanting to stay in control

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WHO DO EATING DISORDERS AFFECT?

Anyone can develop an eating disorder, regardless of age, sex, cultural or racial background, usually around 14 – 25

10% of people diagnosed are menGenetic make-up may have an impactPeople subjected to stress use this to copeThose suffering traumatic eventsSomeone with a long term illness/disability

Anorexia Nervosa ‘loss of appetite for nervous reasons’

In reality they lose the ability to allow themselves to satisfy their appetite

They restrict the amount they eat and drink to a dangerous level

A way of demonstrating they are in control of body weight and shape

Ultimately it takes control, body chemical changes affect the brain and distort thinking

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…“I‟m not a proper anorexic; I just exercise more than the others. The thinner I am, the better I run”

They suffer from the exhaustion of starvation

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The effects of anorexia Severe weight loss; difficulty sleeping and tiredness; dizziness; stomach

pains; constipation; feeling cold; growth of soft, fine hair all over the body; uninterested in sex; poor skin; loss of hair

Excessive exercising; having ritual or obsessive behaviours; being secretive; lying about eating; trying to please everyone often alternating with being angry; cooking for everyone else; wearing baggy clothes

Feeling fat when you are really underweight; getting irritable and moody; setting high standards and being a perfectionist; shutting yourself off from the world; thinking things are either right or wrong, there is no in between; difficulty concentrating

Long term effects can be alarming and severe, in particular there is a high likelihood of developing osteoporosis and there is a much higher than normal risk of developing heart disease

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Ana Carolina Reston

Brazilian fashion model Ana Carolina Restondied at age 21 from complications of anorexia in November of 2006.

"Take care for your children because their loss is irreparable," Reston's mother, Miriam, told the O Globo newspaper. "Nothing can make the pain go away. No money in the world is worth the life of your child."

Silverchair – Daniel Johns

Fusing heavy rock with orchestral flourishes and synthetic touches with powerfully emotional lyrics, the dark and haunting Neon Ballroom was universally acclaimed as a huge creative leap for Johns and his band mates. It became the group’s most successful album to date due to the Comet Award winning “Ana’s Song” - a track about Daniel Johns’ battles with an eating disorder.

1997 http://maddieruud.hubpages.com/hub/EDSongs

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Be aware of Pro-Ana Sites

Pro-ana refers to the promotion of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. It is often referred to simply as "ana" and is sometimes personified by anorexics as a girl named Ana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro-ana

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Bulimia Nervosa

Also linked with low self esteem, emotional problems and stress.

Sufferers constantly think about calories, dieting and ways of getting rid of food they have eaten.

It is more common than anorexia, but hidden because people with bulimia usually remain an average or just over average body weight.

It can go unnoticed for a long time.

“I used to go to the food cupboard, fridge or freezer and eat as much as I could, as quickly as possible, to try to make myself feel happier and fill the hole I felt I had inside. Afterwards I felt physically and emotionally upset and guilty about all the food I had eaten, so I would make myself sick.”

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Eating-disorders/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Bulimia Nervosa

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What have eating disorders got to do with puberty?

Embarrassment and sensitivity about the changes that are happening to their bodies. They may feel heavy and overweight. They may feel unhappy and confused; especially as puberty brings lots of emotions to the surface. They can feel vulnerable and upset.

Sadly, there are people around who may use this as a chance to bully and tease. They then feel anxious or depressed and start to feel bad about themselves and worry about how they look.

Hospitals treated 882 under-18s out of a

total of 2,579 admissions in the year to June.

Under 10s constituted 31 admissions and 367

were aged between 10 and 14.

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Orthorexia A relatively newly diagnosed disorder that

is given when the person become obsessive about their eating patterns.

Unlike anorexia or bulimia, the person permits themselves to eat but become so engrossed with what they are eating that their thoughts become over taken by their diet.

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Fashion industry & the media

“Every time I open a magazine, I see lots of girls who are thinner than me!”

Further information to explore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRseSpdGC2s

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/members/sections/eatingdisorders.aspx

http://www.nice.org.uk/CG009

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The other eating disorder

Obsessive eating!

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References

Beating Eating Disorders http://www.b-eat.co.uk/ Accessed 30.1.12

Hubpages http://hubpages.com/hub/EDSongs Accessed 30.1.12

National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). www.nice.org.uk Accessed 30.1.12

NHS Choices. www.nhs.uk Accessed 30.1.12

The Royal College of Psychiatrist. www.rcpsych.ac.uk Accessed 30.1.12