World Eating Disorder Day Highlight
Dangers of Illnesses Such as Anorexia
By Dr.Fourkan Ali
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are common problems in the UK.
Most sufferers tend to be young teenage girls, but the reality is that eating
disorders can affect both males and females of all ages.
World Eating Disorder
Day that took place on June 2nd, 2016 looked to
highlight the dangers of this growing problem. Sufferers, parents, carers and
professionals all come together to emphasise the need for better care and
treatment and to educate people on the benefits of early intervention when it
comes to treating this devastating illness.
In the past three years, the number of young
people admitted to hospital for an eating disorder has risen by one hundred per
cent, and in light of this, health experts say that more needs to be done to
highlight the issue. World Eating Disorder Day does just that.
Deadly Illness
The term eating disorder automatically brings
to mind an image of a waif-like girl who has been starving herself. Anorexia is
probably the most well-known eating disorder, but there are some other
categories that also have a devastating impact on those affected as well as to
the people who love them.
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that
commonly goes unnoticed for long periods because those affected tend to
maintain a stable weight. They go through periods of binge eating but, by
purging themselves, they rarely gain weight. Purging means vomiting or taking
laxatives to rid themselves of the food they have eaten. Some bulimia sufferers
will exercise for hours to avoid putting on weight after a binge eating episode.
However, many people do not realise that
eating disorders are not just about restricting food. Some individuals with an
unhealthy relationship with food, binge eat without purging themselves. Binge
eating disorder sufferers eat large quantities of food in one sitting while
many will continue to gorge themselves despite not being hungry. Some will
continue to eat until they feel physically sick.
Eating disorders are mental health problems,
with most of those affected suffering from low self-esteem and body confidence
issues. Sadly, eating disorders can lead to a host of physical health problems,
and in extreme cases, can be fatal.
Overcoming Eating Disorders
It can be very difficult to overcome an eating
disorder, particularly since many go unnoticed for many years. Those who suffer
from low self-esteem and issues regarding their body image find it very hard to
change, but one former anorexic is speaking out in the hope of getting more
people to learn how to love themselves.
Megan Jayne Crabbe wants people to start
loving their bodies and says that in an age of selfies and filters, nobody
really knows ‘what real bodies look like anymore’. She added, “Real as in RAW,
unedited, un-posed, un-airbrushed, REAL. Bodies from all angles, not just the
most ‘flattering’ ones.”
She has posted two side-by-side images of
herself to make her point with one image showing her standing tall with flat
abs. The other image depicts stomach rolls as she curls herself in a sitting
position. In relation to the photos, she said, “Our ideas about bodies are so
warped that most people would praise the girl on the left and condemn the girl
on the right, without realizing that we’re one and the same. Well, I’ve worked
damn hard to love the body in both these pictures, and I won’t let the world
paint my unique features as flaws to be fixed. So this is my message to you –
you are worthy of self-love at any angle. You are beautiful posed or not.”
Megan Jayne has had to overcome her own eating
disorder in order to get to this way of thinking. She was diagnosed with
anorexia at the age of fourteen and, at one point, she weighed just
four-and-a-half stone and was being tube fed in hospital. She said, “I was
trapped in a mental prison of calorie counting and exercise addiction.”
Helping Others
Megan Jayne overcame her anorexia at the age
of sixteen, but it took her another five years before she learned to really
love herself. She said she was browsing Instagram when she came across an
online community of people ‘unapologetically loving themselves’. She added,
“Before then, I had never realized that there was an alternative to starvation
diets and self-hatred.”
She now uses her blog and Instagram account to
help others and said that messages she receives from those in recovery from
eating disorders mean the world to her. She went on to say, “Knowing I’ve
created something that helps those people makes everything I went through feel
worth something.”
Treatment for Eating Disorders
Early intervention is critical when it comes
to successfully treating eating disorders, but there are a number of obstacles
to this, not the least of which is the fact that many sufferers are adept at
hiding their illness for a long time. There is also a significant problem
regarding waiting lists, especially when it comes to NHS treatment.
The good news is that there are a number of
private organisations around the UK offering specialist treatment to those
affected by various eating disorders, including binge eating disorder, bulimia,
and anorexia. For more information, contact us here at Addiction Helper today.
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