Anorexia is not an easy bearable affection. It is an eating disorder and affects not only the physic but the psychic too. Those who suffer of this disorder are underweight but they still believe that they are fat and continue to eat less and less. The disease generally affects young people and installs during adolescence. In comparison with the normal weight these people’s weight is less with 15%. This can lead to serious problems and can cause even death. This is why sometimes they are being hospitalized because they must be saved from death.
Treating such persons is not easy because you must make them realize that they are skinny not fat. These people starve themselves even though they are hungry because they are terrified of gaining weight. They do not have a lack of appetite; they have a problem with their image. Dealing with a psychological problem is difficult and needs a lot of experience and patience.
The anorexic people become obsessed with their weight and food. They develop strange behaviors like separating the food into bad and good to eat, or cooking feasts for family members but they do not even eat or taste that food. They might be exercising excessively in order to loose weight and might refuse to eat in front of others. The physic is affected too. Monthly menstruation will come irregular or will not come at all. Men might also develop hormone problems, meaning that the sex hormones level will decrease. Young girls who suffer of anorexia and do not follow a proper treatment will not grow up as they have to for their age and the menstruation will fail to come in their cases.
The diagnosis of amenorrhea can be made if three consecutive menstrual cycles are missing and if the menstruation comes only by hormonal therapy.
Not everyone who does not look fat is categorized as anorexic. Anorexic people are those who do not have the adequate weight for their height and age and still believe that they are fat.
The anorexic patients are afraid of gaining any weight and might not disappear even if that person is close to death due to starvation. Usually these persons have o problem with their self-esteem. They even believe that the body is directly conditioned about how a person feels about itself. They are not able to see how much this disease affects them and they do not realize they need specialized treatment. Therefore the family must guide them towards a special clinic of eating disorders in order to get them cured of this serious condition.
By: Groshan Fabiola