Do people with eating disorders know they have eating disorders?
In the last post, we saw how:
- Anorexia is a serious medical condition that has adverse effects in every aspect of the person’s life
- Anorexia has the worse outcome among eating disorders and this is made worse when the person does not receive treatment early among other parameters.
- Anorexia requires different disciplines in medical disciplines for effective treatment.
Welcome to Medic Vibes, where we discuss mental health disorders and make sense of them. Dr Ebingo Kigigha is a medical doctor (aspiring psychiatrist) and creative person (illustration and music). This has been our routine for four consecutive months. This month will be dedicated to Eating Disorders. In the first month, we discussed Depression, and in the subsequent month, anxiety. We just finished with Schizophrenia.
In this post, we are looking at Quora. To learn more just keep scrolling down. You can also skip to the key point of the post if you which or go to the conclusion to get the summary.
The symptoms of anorexia affect the sufferer in different ways. The physical symptoms are related to features of starvation such as weight loss. There are other features that are psychological and may be related to other psychiatric conditions like anxiety, depression and insomnia and they could be developed over time. They typically have an unrealistic fear of gaining weight and being obese.
There is also the possibility that they may not be thin in the initial stages of the condition and they may hide their body from others so no one else knows that they are thin
A majority of them will be thin however because of the lack of food and the compensatory ways in which they go through to attain their conceptualized body image. They may look pale because they are not getting enough nutrients for red blood cell formation. They are usually tired but they have issues sleeping. Their hair is thin and unhealthy so it easily breaks. In women, they have issues with menstruation because the body is sending nutrients to other organs other than those for reproduction,
Self awareness in Eating Disorders(Reaction post)
Anonymous from Quora answered this by saying they know they have an eating disorder and according to them they can not escape the fact that they have this disorder. It is something that affects them during breakfast, lunch and dinner. They skip breakfast, forget about lunch and do not like dinner. They over-exercise at night. They explain that they have the bones of the ribcage sticking out of their body and their clavicles become more vivid.
They describe it as a sad and pathetic way to go through life. They explain the lack of control they experience at home, they can only control their body and they strive to take their body through these experiences.
They explain that everyone who has an eating disorder knows they have it and they know what they are doing to themselves but they differ in the way they accept the challenge they are facing.
They send well wishes to everyone in hopes that no one will have to go through what they go through.
According to Kaplan's synopsis for psychiatry part of the diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder is a phobia of gaining weight and becoming obese. This feature is seen in every patient with this disorder. They tend to be resistant to therapy and their abnormal eating habits are carried out in secrete.
These patients do not share meals with family and will not eat in gathering such as restaurants. For the restrictive type of Anorexia, they will not eat the amount of food they judge to cause them to be a cause of weight gain. They will significantly reduce their carbohydrate and fat consumption.
When they are brought to the hospital for treatment, it is typically because close friends and family can not stand to watch them go through all this suffering. They are usually not enthusiastic in any way about the prospects of receiving treatment for their condition. They show this by not taking the treatment offered to them by the doctor and they will much rather quarrel about the need for treatment.
This is why as a doctor it is good that you invest more into explaining the benefits of the treatment than telling them that they have a problem. They will be more likely to follow through with treatment if they think they will see benefits in their depressive symptoms and those anxiety symptoms.
This will help the patient gain trust in the practitioner and family. Sometimes the patient may require admission against their will when they are at risk of losing their lives to this condition. This is marked by features of starvation and treatment for malnutrition needs to be ongoing as the patient receives psychotherapy for anorexia.
Eating Disorder Hope suggests that knowing about eating disorders is very important so that more people are knowledgeable about these conditions. If more people know about this disorder it will lead to those who have eating disorders presenting to the hospital earlier than they typically would.
It can also let the general public be less critical and more empathetic about what people are going through.
In eating disorders the person has unhealthy eating habits that are not easy to do away with and their projection of control over their life is that of control over their body image. Those who suffer from this condition take different routes. Some restrict eating and some may overeat and this will eventually reduce their quality of life.
Most people who know about eating disorders only know about the common ones like Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge disorders but there are others such as Night eating disorder, Sleep eating disorder and Purging disorder.
It is good to keep in mind that eating disorders are treatable and they need to be handled by a trained specialist for the best results in treatment. They could also have complications like depression, anxiety and insomnia.
Treatment
In psychotherapy, the main focus is to affect changes in thought and behavioural patterns in those that have eating disorders. The method applied aims at developing healthy ways of viewing food. Because the cause is rooted in stress management, these features are also to be addressed.
One important form of therapy is acceptance and commitment therapy and the primary function of this therapy is to build the drive necessary for change to take place.
Another is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and which is specific to body image dissociation and helps them start applying modified action to behaviour.
In cognitive remediation therapy the patient is made to think back on their actions and with guidance come up with better ways to have handled them.
Dialectical behavioural therapy gives the patient new options that can be used in dealing with otherwise triggering conditions and can help the patient see conditions that would have been otherwise triggering in a better light. The patient is thought to be mindful and work on their relationships while controlling their reactions to emotionally stressful events.
Questions
- What did you learn about Eating Disorders?
Conclusion
- Some of the symptoms seen in anorexia are those of starvation and it is important to start treatment for this as the treatment for the psychological ailments of Anorexia.
- Those who have Anorexia typically are in denial about the condition.
- There are different forms of therapy that have been seen to be useful in treating Anorexia.
References
- Kaplan-Sadocks-Comprehensive-Textbook-Psychiatry
- Page demarcations made with Inkscape.org
- Eating Disorder Hope