Eating Disorders Are Not Gender Specific

Recent studies have shown that eating disorders among males are much more prevalent than previously believed. Although there are still more female sufferers, these latest findings are disturbing, particularly to parents of male children.

It is also believed that males are less likely to seek treatment than females. This may be a result of too many decades of brainwashing about men being tough and therefore not needing help.

Eating disorders are the same in male or female sufferers in terms of symptoms and state of mind. Both show a history of the following:

• Anxiety, • Depression, • Phobias, • Panic disorder, and • Dependence on drugs and/or alcohol

Both sexes show similar levels of unhappiness with their lives.

Although many people believe eating disorders to be a result of the media's portrayal of beautiful models, this is not the main issue. The main issue is about self esteem rather than food. Most sufferers of these eating disorders have an undervalued sense of their real self.

Unfortunately, eating disorders sometimes go unnoticed in males because a very thin man can still have muscle mass. This fact makes it even more dangerous in males because when they've reached the lowest weight ranges, they've lost more muscle and tissue. The misconceptions that surround eating disorders in males often stop males from getting much needed treatment. The fact that it is seen by society as a 'female problem' and that males don't have a problem with those things makes many male sufferers feel ashamed and uncomfortable about seeking help. There is a profound stigma around eating disorders and this is particularly so in males. Many people think that males with eating disorders are homosexual while the truth is that around eighty percent of male sufferers are heterosexual.

Also, cessation of menstruation has been a fundamental measure of anorexia. Therefore, by these criteria, it would be impossible for a male to have anorexia.

Men see being fat as weak, unmanly, and disgusting. For this reason, they often go into rigid exercise routines, becoming obsessed with the need to keep going, no matter how thin they become.

Because males and females have different preoccupations with body image, treatment needs are different for both sexes. One has to wonder if the medical professions know how to respond to these differences.

One sign of a male eating disorder is an obsession with body shape and weight as well as compulsive exercising and using lots of bulk-up products.

He may also be restricting foods or purging after eating. He may also be taking laxatives or diuretics or using diet pills to lose weight even if he is already slim. In both genders, anorexia and bulimia are characterized by the following signs: • Excessive fear of becoming fat • Compulsive living patterns • Self-induced starvation The three main types of eating disorder for both males and females are: • Anorexia nervosa • Bulimia nervosa • Binge eating disorder Men who are involved in competitive sports where body weight and shape is important are more prone to fall victim to an eating disorder. The first step in overcoming an eating disorder is admitting that you have a problem and talking to a professional about it. Also, get help from a nutritionist to plan a healthy diet that will assist in developing healthy eating habits.



About the Author
Anne is a woman who has worked primarily within health and welfare for around 35 years. However, since she was only a child, she has loved to research and write on a wide variety of interests. Feel free to visit Anne's websites at http://ozespirit.kg100.hop.clickbank.net/ or http://ozespirit.rmeltd.hop.clickbank.net/ or http://ozespirit.doctorbest.hop.clickbank.net/

Understand How Emotional Eating Hypnosis Really Works

Although considered provoking disagreement to some people, emotional eating hypnosis has proved to be one of the most highly effectual and healthy types of emotional eating treatments. An altered consciousness, for the client or patient, is a straightforward and relatively inexpensive management which can do wonders for alleviating many compulsive habits and disorders, such as smoking; excessive ingestion of alcoholic beverages; rhythmic use of profane or vulgar language; excessive panicky talking, laughter, fidgeting and pacing; chronic insomnia; drug abuse; excessive overspending; kleptomania; and excessive emotional overeating. There are currently abundant hypnotherapists with busy health related practices now successfully healing clients and patients of all ages who have a wide variety of distasteful or even diminishing habits, conditions and illnesses. In the past, it was usually necessary to live near or travel to a city or urban center in order to seek treatment by certified or certified hypnotists. However, now, hypnotherapists thrive, even in relatively small rural communities and their surrounding areas.

To defeat emotional overeating is, for many people, a very complex if not impossible task to accomplish on their own. Since, in many cases, overeating is caused or encouraged by one`s despondency or discomfort with numerous aspects of livelihood or milieu, such as job, family life, financial situation and wellbeing issues, often the cause even if located, understood and confronted by the compulsive overeater cannot be easily or quickly stopped or changed. When dealing with this constant problem, many sufferers attempt to overcome emotional overeating without the experienced assistance of health experts or holistic advisors and practitioners. Although, at first, chronic emotional overeaters may think that they are making advancement toward overcoming their eating disorder, over a length of time they usually decide to practically starving themselves; abusing laxatives, colonics and enemas; often even developing bulimia, in an effort to improve their anxiety at continuous weight gain from overeating.

Helpful emotional eating treatments usually begin with professional emotional eating psychoanalysis. For, it is always necessary to be absolutely sure of the emotional dilemma being addressed and informed about all of its aspects before understanding the value of a particular approved method of treatment. While cause and effect are important issues in emotional eating counseling and treatments, another key aspect is that of strengthening the individual`s psyche in order to better control behavior related to ongoing feelings of anxiety or dislike. While some emotional eating treatments may favor strict observance of strict dieting and strict controlling of both frequency and quantities of food consumed, when eventually left alone after successfully completing such programs, emotional overeaters often revert to their former behaviors, thus triggering the problem sequence of emotional overeating all over again. Exercise, of course, plays an important role in emotional eating treatments by helping in controlling compulsive eating. When exercising recurrently, most people find such activity and energy alleviate the desire and compulsion for as many unhealthy and caloric tidbits as they usually indulge in between meals. Typically, eating counseling will emphasize exercise as a means of overcoming emotional overeating, yet there is still a strong predisposition for the governing pattern in the everyday life of a chronic emotional overeater to be that of overeating.

Thankfully, this is where emotional eating hypnosis lends a hand. While behavioral psychologists may favor the redirecting or reprogramming method of switch (and this is a good treatment) in which the overeater learns to redirect the emotional urge of overeating to another emotionally controlled activity--for example, dancing, painting, singing, outings and games with good friends and family--many such activities finally involve food and the urge to overeat once again. In treatment by emotional overeating hypnosis, however, your mind, through advice of a professionally qualified hypnotist, gains control of your emotional need for hedonism in food. By learning to take charge and control your unsettled feelings of discomfort, dislike and uneasiness in life, you hold to the premise that: Although you often cannot control what happens in life, you are master of how you see and react to life`s ongoing saga of actions. You eventually come to the realization, through hypnotherapy, that your own perceptions, principles and attitudes are truly what control your emotional reactions, as well as your wellbeing and level of comfort, and even happiness, throughout life. With the help of emotional eating hypnosis, controlling compulsive eating becomes a selection, a decision, and a lifetime personal health edict.





About the Author
Oliver Carter writes regularly about health related topics. I hope you enjoy this article.

Let An Inpatient Rehab Center Help You with Your Eating Disorder

An untreated eating disorder will never simply go away. Too many victims of anorexia or bulimia try to "wait out" their troubles, as if time might fix that which has been broken. But this is a recipe for disaster. The truth is that an eating disorder is a disease, and like any disease it can only be overcome with professional medical help. If you're going to get better, in other words, you're going to have to reach out to people who know exactly what they're doing.

There are plenty of eating disorder rehab centers in Los Angeles. All of them promise to help their clients achieve meaningful and lasting healing. Some of them live up to that standard. Many more of them don't. As should perhaps be obvious, the difference is more important than any in the world. Before you start with an intervention, or before you enroll in an eating disorder treatment program then, it's vital that you thoroughly understand the options available to you.


Cliffside Malibu has a long history of helping upscale clients overcome eating disorders. That's why Cliffside is so widely regarded as the finest treatment facility in Southern California. It's also why you can't afford to settle for inferior care. Successful eating disorder treatment rehab will help you rediscover the world as you used to know it, before your troubles turned you into the person you are today. Given the stakes, it's hard to imagine that any outcome could be more desirable than that one.


If you'd like more information on this topic, please call 1-800-501-1988, visit our website at www.cliffsidemalibu.com or contact us at admissions@cliffsidemalibu.com.

This press release may be used freely, provided that the resource box is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly appreciated.



About the Author
Cliffside Malibu

Behind the Veils of Eating Disorders - A Connection to Spirituality

What does it mean to be "nourished?" To many, the idea of nourishment is associated with the provision of sustenance to the body, mainly in the form of food and water. Such a Westernized conceptualization ignores the fact that one's mind, spirit and body all need to be nourished in order to survive and thrive. The mind, body, and spirit are intimately connected, and an individual must provide nourishment to all aspects of the self to attain feelings of being alive and full. Spirituality is not a unitary concept. Rather, it encompasses three aspects. Spirituality on an individual level relates to the connection with one's inner self, that is, how one nourishes their own individual soul and fulfills their life and universal purpose. However, this inner spirituality needs to arise in conjunction with a spiritual connection to others, satisfying the human need for interpersonal relationships, as well as a larger 'cosmic' spirituality that bring awareness to and links us to the greater universe we are a part of. This process is slow, and the journey towards a sense of spiritual fullness can span decades and lifetimes. This article will explore the journey an eating disordered individual takes when developing her mind, body, and spirit, and the role eating disorders may play in understanding one's greater purpose in life and learning how to achieve true and long lasting nourishment.

One may often ask, "Why did I get an eating disorder?" What many don't realize is that eating disorders are not random unfortunate occurrences but in fact have a purpose. In many instances, the eating disorder is symbolic of a difficulty in finding other more satiating ways to deal with important needs and emotional issues, some of which may not be accessible to awareness. As well, eating disordered clients typically will be resistant to giving up their eating disordered behaviour because they believe it makes them exceptional and unique, providing an identity when they are confused about their own. In this sense, the eating disorder serves as a mask while an individual attempts to figure out their own true identity and purpose in life, covering a true hunger for meaning about where one belongs. When individuals are ready to confront these underlying issues, they first need to recognize, confront, and heal their eating disordered behaviours by re-feeding and slowly re-nourishing their mind. Working with a therapist aware of the role that an eating disorder plays in self-transformation, one is provided with the opportunity to learn how to feel 'full' in their mental and spiritual lives as well. It can be very scary for an individual to accept and acknowledge their spirituality, because it means confronting greater issues about death and the cycle of life. From this standpoint, an eating disorder is a transition point on a spiritual quest, serving as a catalyst to explore what one needs to feel fulfilled in their mind and spirit. As the following case study shows, the better question to ask is, "How can I learn and grow from my eating disorder?"

Jennifer was a white, well-educated, upper class young woman who battled with anorexia for seven years. In her work in therapy, she was at first indignant to the idea that there was more to her eating disorder than counting calories and wanting to 'lose 5 pounds.' Over the next couple of years, we worked on both the physical and emotional components of her eating issues, endeavouring to understand the goals underlying her eating disordered behaviour. In this case, Jennifer's eating disorder was a way for her to regulate her internal emotional state, that is, the anxiety associated with experiencing feelings that scared her and that she didn't understand. By controlling her food intake, she was able to focus on something else besides how she felt lost in the world and didn't know where she fit in. By remaining extremely thin, she felt as if she could remain like a little girl and thus avoid having to confront her true purpose in life. Using therapeutic techniques meant specifically to reconnect the mind and body and spirit, including Reiki, Yoga and other body oriented therapies that will be described in more detail below, Jennifer not only returned to a healthy body weight, but also realized the importance of nourishing her mind and spirit, and learned to experience and accept her emotions without resorting to eating disordered behaviour as a coping mechanism. By exploring the issues pertaining to why she started restricting her food intake, she came to the realization that she maintained her physical hunger as a way to maintain congruence with her more intense spiritual hunger. Through meditation, Jennifer became aware that the way to attain inner spiritual nourishment was to strengthen her spiritual connection with others. She realized her purpose in life was to help other people with eating disorders, and that her own eating issues would enable her to understand and truly help others who also felt lost in their bodies or present lives. Jennifer has begun to help others on the path to healing, and no longer feeling starved spiritually, has been able to maintain her recovery.

How can other individuals, like Jennifer, learn to re-connect their mind, body, and spirit? There are a multitude of experiential therapeutic techniques, many of which can be used in combination, that can help an individual to heal their body and to grow spiritually. The therapist in these situations can serve as the individual's healer and spiritual community, helping to engender feelings of connection with another being and gently guiding the client to her own mindfulness and spiritual awareness.

It has been widely noted across multiple psychological orientations, including Adlerian psychology, that one's early developmental experiences play a critical role in how an individual forms internalized perceptions of the self and others. These early relationship experiences remain with us as we further develop into adulthood, and become the basis of the internal scripts that we use to guide our thoughts and behaviours in our daily lives, particularly in our interactions with others. For example, an individual who had self-critical and restricting parents would mistakenly learn from this relationship that she is constantly being judged and is inferior and undeserving. As we react in response to our environment, such a perception may be internalized, with the individual coming to believe that she is not worthwhile and does not deserve to feel "full," and may aim to restrict herself in any way she can. This perspective will later be played out externally, fuelling maladaptive and destructive life goals, by being self-critical and engaging in restricting towards the self. Not only do such developmental experiences make one feel worthless and unloved, but also will likely precipitate eating disordered behaviour.

Psychodrama is an 'action' oriented technique developed by J.L. Moreno. Its main tenets involve the therapeutic re-enactment and role playing of influential and important 'scenes,' or events in an individual's life, rather than only talking about them. For example, early aversive parental experiences may be re-enacted, highlighting the influence of interpersonal relationships in one's life and the thought and belief patterns arising from such interactions. Props may be used to facilitate these mini-dramas, and empty chairs may also be used to represent people to whom the client needs to express herself. Such techniques help an individual step back from the salient scene and take the perspective of an observer, which often can provide more insight.By acting out in psychodrama, an arena for one's internal dramas can be brought to consciousness and expressed in the external world, bringing to awareness underlying reasons for one's thoughts and actions and correcting psychologically disruptive and/or mistaken internalizations and beliefs. In this sense, psychodrama can be a means to spontaneously and creatively express one's emotions, inner voice and to tell one's life story, in addition to expressing any desires, fears, and deeper questions. The use of the body in psychodrama to relay one's inner world can help to connect the mind and body, and can provide a cathartic release of physical and emotional tension. Psychodrama is advantageous because it can be done in both an individual and group setting, which can help an individual feel supported. This provides an opportunity to connect spiritually with other people and to view one's experiences from another perspective. In short, psychodrama can help an individual to recognize their feelings and give meaning to their internal experiences in a more concrete and reality-oriented form.

None the less, it is important to recognize that some individuals experiencing an eating disorder will have issues verbalizing their emotions in psychodrama. Thus, it may be beneficial to explore other art forms, like painting and sculpture, that can express thoughts and feelings in images and symbols rather than words. Additionally, based on the premise that adaptations in bodily movement impact emotional and physical well-being, dance or movement therapy could also be used to bring an energized awareness to the experiences of the body that have emotional valence.Such techniques allow an individual to non-verbally symbolize their life journey and experiences and work to liberate one from their psychological distress. Regardless of the medium used, the important idea is that a creative experiential process is initiated. Summoning our creative potential and using our bodies and mind in an interconnected way can help us to move towards spiritual grounding by reconnecting us with the intangible creative force that controls and moves the universe.

While psychodrama can work to establish and nourish a stronger mind-body connection in an eating disordered client, the relationship between the body and spirit also needs to be healed and explored. Healing an eating disorder does not only entail a remission of symptoms, but also relates to the return to one's authentic state of being. Often with eating disorders, the individual's spirit is old, transferred across many lifetimes, but is inhabiting a young body. This disconnect between one's chronological age and one's spiritual age can be distressing and isolating for such individuals, and can create an unconscious but insatiable disdain for one's body that feels like it "doesn't fit." Combined with questions relating to one's greater purpose in life, such a state can sensitize these individuals to an eating disorder. Thus, it is important for an individual in this situation to learn to balance and harmonize the spirit and body, and several body orientedtherapies can be used to facilitate this, including Reiki.

Reiki, Gentle touch and other body oriented energy therapies involve a series of hand positions on an individual's body that engenders the smooth and nurturing flow of positive energy reciprocally from the body to the spirit. This allows reconnection to one's true spiritual core, and can help to facilitate the re-awakening of feelings of warmth and care towards one's body. These feelings of warmth can be particularly important to individuals with eating disorders, who may have not experienced warmth and compassion from significant others in the developmental stages of their life. As a result, they do not have warm memories of healing touch during times of distress to provide soothing feelings of safety and nurturing. The practice of Reiki in a safe and soothing place of healing can re-create and awaken this lacking but critical relational experience in individuals, and help individuals to feel worthy of nourishing warmth.

While the techniques above usually require therapist facilitation, there are certain practices an individual with an eating disorder can engage in outside of the therapeutic milieu. Yoga and Chi Quong for example, are of an eastern tradition and have been suggested as a useful technique for clients with eating disorders looking to foster inner peace, and working to reinvent and gain awareness of the body. By using different postures to experience the body in new and different ways, attention is focused inwardly towards tolerating and recognizing how the body feels, rather than how the body looks (Boudette, 2006). Deep breathing and chanting that accompanies the Yoga and Chi Quong practice can help to facilitate a connection with the spiritual side of the self. Additionally, certain yoga postures may be slightly uncomfortable, and yoga teaches one to tolerate this discomfort. This parallels the discomfort that will result during the recovery phase of an eating disorder, when one is learning to re-feed the self, and can serve as a model for enduring uncomfortable feelings (Boudette, 2006). Thus, yoga is like a metaphor for the healing process from an eating disorder, and facilitates peace and awareness in the body. Which body-based therapy is best to use, depends on the individual client, but it is important to let the client take the lead towards their own spiritual journey and recovery process.

Many individuals have taken the journey towards greater spiritual development, exploring the underlying connections and purpose in their current and past lives. While an eating disorder is one way for an individual to discover and deal with these issues, other self harm behaviours, including addiction, may also manifest themselves as a mechanism to cope with spiritual emptiness and therefore facilitate its growth. Although it might feel counterintuitive to view an eating disorder, or other psychopathology, as a purposeful event in one's life, it is important to acknowledge the role an eating disorder plays on the path to attaining mental and spiritual nourishment and learning to love the body. In a sense, physical nourishment is a metaphor for the deeper hunger relating to finding one's place in the universe and finding one's spiritual core. Therapists should work with individuals to heal their eating disordered behaviour and symptoms, but also to functionally explore the reasons underlying their eating disorder and how this relates to deeper issues in spirituality, including the sense of spiritual emptiness in one's present life. One should not expect to wake up one day and "be cured" as recovery from an eating disorder is ongoing work. However, as one explores in more depth the non-physical reasons for their pathological eating behaviour through techniques that bring awareness and compassion to both the mind and body, the experience becomes less like 'work' and more like a fruitful quest to attain spiritual fulfillment and a balanced mind, body, and spirit.

Orit is a psychotherpist with over 22 years of counseling experience currently focusing on recovery from eating disorders. Orit has completed an M.A. degree in Counselling Psychology at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. She is a member in good standing with the Academy of Eating Disorders (AED) and the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP) as well as a Certified Clinical Member of the Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors, Psychometrists and Psychotherapists. (OACCPP). She was a student of psychodrama as well as other body-oriented therapies.

visit our website: http://newrealitiescalifornia.com/

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How to Develop Neuronal Networks to Cure Eating Disorders

A neuronal network is a group of connected neurons (brain cells) which are related to certain behaviours or certain functions in the body. The human brain has thousands of neuronal networks for different human behaviors or functions. An eating disorder takes an enormous amount of brain space because the disorder creates many neuronal networks, each related to certain eating disorder behaviour. For instance, people have certain neuronal networks for their binging - purging behaviour (bulimia), another one for starving (anorexia), others for taking laxatives or over exercising etc.

This is why when someone starts a particular destructive behaviour; it is extremely difficult to stop doing it because multiple new neuronal networks get built. These newly activated neuronal networks soon turn into a chain reaction within the brain. One neuron connects onto many others and they all start to shoot electric impulses which are spread to the connecting neurons and the reaction goes on, forming strong bonds that straighten with use: e.g. false emotions and feelings, like I am too fat.

These eating disorder's networks get activated when people put into action faulty behaviours and start abnormal action like binging, purging, starving etc. These actions are in relation to stressful bothersome thoughts about food and self image and can be brought on by being called fat by a friend or even jokingly by a family member.

There is only one way to cure an eating disorder and that is to stop activating these abnormal behavioural neuronal networks. Only by creating new networks and replacing the old ones with more flexible and healthier ones, can the destructive eating disorder behaviour be stopped.

How can this be done?

Well, it is all about changing people's response to the thoughts they have. When people have these bothersome destructive thoughts about starving or binging-purging and their thoughts tell them "Go binge-purge or starve". If they actually dismiss these thoughts by changing focus and doing something constructive: like going to a movie, doing a hobby, anything to take their thoughts away from the eating disorder impulse. They can start to build new neuronal pathways that are not subject to the faulty destructive eating disorder thinking.

Most eating disorder sufferers say that they are aware of the thoughts they have but just can't resist them because it is not easy to do, so they go for what their thoughts tell them to do as the easy way out.

But what will happen if they try to resist their bothersome thoughts? What will happen if they try to resist these thoughts for a while, at least for 2-3 weeks?

If a person decides not to accept her/his stressful thoughts or the false messages sent by the brain and start focusing on doing other constructive behaviours for at least 2-3 weeks, than the neuronal networks start to re-wire themselves forming new networks. The old ones responsible for the unwanted behavior like starving, binging-purging, etc will begin to fade because they are not used any more. Eventually these old ones will be replaced with new healthy, flexible neuronal pathways.

It is what you do, not what you feel that is the key. Many people think that their thoughts and feelings are their reality, but they are not. It is how you respond to your thoughts and what you do that matters the most.

To conclude, if a person starts doing something else (some other behaviour) instead of responding to their faulty eating disorder thoughts and feelings, their brain will form new healthier more flexible pathways or neuronal networks.

Of course this is not easy to do as the destructive eating disorder thoughts are very strong and the willpower to overcome them by yourself is enormous and outside many people's ability to do by them self. But there ways you can it if you learn the methods.

Dr Irina Webster MD is the Director of Women Health Issues Program which covers different areas of Women Health. She is a recognised authority in the eating disorders area. She is an author of many books and a public speaker. To learn more about neuronal networks and eating disorders go to http://www.eatingdisorder-cure.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irina_Webster

Wondering Just What the Binge Eating Disorder is Exactly?

If you find you are one of those who keeps eating and can't stop, don't be embarrassed or ashamed. You may be suffering from an eating disorder. Specifically binge eating. Which is one of the most common, and most secretive, eating disorders going.

So just what does the binge eating disorder involve? Good question.

By definition binge eating is out of control eating of large amounts of food. In other words those who cram an entire loaf of bread into their mouth or inhale a bag of cookies as fast as they can are likely to be binge eaters.

For some it's a coping mechanism or a way to deal with stress of daily life. Where food is unconsciously used to reward or punish.

Emotionally based eating like this also a physical side. It results in an uncomfortable feeling of being stuffed that is both painful and humiliating.

Besides it's a cycle that's tough to break. And a problem that is most likely to strike women. As six out of ten binge eaters are female.

Yet don't confuse binge eating bulimia. That later is where people purge the food they have just eaten by vomiting or using laxatives.

Now some of the signs or symptoms of this disorder are:



• Frequent episodes of runaway eating

• Unable to control what and how much is being eaten

• Rapidly stuffing in large amounts of food even when not hungry

• Eating alone, or in secret, out of embarrassment

• Feelings of depression, disgust or guilt after binging


Though this problem generally is seen more in women even men are not spared. It affects both obese and people without weight problems as well.

The causes for this disorder is not known though there is thought to a relationship between depression and this eating disorder. Negative emotions like anger, anxiety and boredom can trigger it. But positive events can leave some standing in front of the refrigerator looking for something else to engulf too.

Some side effects include obesity, blood pressure problems, heart disease and the like. Also people suffering from this disorder may miss work or withdraw socially from family and friends.

Now you are just a click away from more helpful info about the troubling binge eating disorder. Not only do we explore treatment options that can help you overcome this problem. You'll also find a 15 question self-assessment to help you decide if you might be a binge eater or not.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Bishop

What Are the Differences Between Bulimia and Anorexia? Millions Suffer From These Eating Disorders

There are two main types of eating disorders known as anorexia and bulimia. It is highly thought that these are caused by dieting, but dieting is just a side effect. There are differences between bulimia and anorexia, and millions of people suffer from these eating disorders.

There are about 2 million people in the United States that are suffering right now from one of these eating disorders. These illnesses are more often occurring in girls and women than in men. However, there are many male patients that are battling these eating disorders as well.

Anorexia is an eating disorder where a person thinks that they always look fat. People have been programmed to think that they need to be thin to be attractive, and thus tend to starve themselves in order to be thin.

Anorexia is showing up more and more in teenagers. The teenagers are often girls of middle to upper class families. Teenage boys suffer from anorexia but not as often.

An anorexic person does not want to eat when in order to survive. There are anorexia patients who avoid eating food, and they do strenuous exercises or activities like grueling physical exercises so they will lose weight and not gain any. Usually their weight is already below normal. Gaining weight is the worst fear of a person with anorexia. The excessive weight loss that anorexics usually have will cause hormonal disturbances and a number of other health problems can occur. Anorexics hardly eat at all.

The cause of anorexia is not known yet. There are health experts who believe that biological, nutritional and psychological causes combined lead to this disorder. There are social and environmental causes like puberty, a death in the family or other stress related situations which could lead to anorexia. Psychological and family support is needed for an anorexic to understand their eating.

Bulimia nervous is a common eating disorder where the person has a tempting urge to eat. They have repeated episodes of binging in a very short amount of time. Bulimics eat a lot. They often eat in secret because they can not stop eating. Bulimic people are very afraid of obesity and this leads them to self-induced vomiting in order to get the food out of their body. To be diagnosed with bulimia, a person must be binging and purging regularly, at least twice a week for a couple of months. It is much different from stuffing yourself at a party or on Thanksgiving. Bulimics feel that they must purge their bodies of all the food.

Bulimics will also try laxatives, diuretics, strict fasting, and dieting of any kind. They will also want to do hard physical exercises for their body to prevent the weight gain.

Although anorexia and bulimia are very similar, people with anorexia are usually very thin and underweight but those with bulimia may be of normal weight or even overweight.

Anorexia and bulimia are much more often seen in girls rather than boys. Like anorexia, the cause of bulimia is not known. Having the support of family very helpful for the anorexic and bulimic person. Both anorexia and bulimia are dangerous and life threatening unless help is sought and counseling is followed. Although there are differences in bulimia and anorexia, there are similarities in that millions suffer from these eating disorders.

See how a mother discovered a home treatment program for her anorexic bulimic daughter who nearly died from anorexia-bulimia.
http://anorexia-bulimia-disorders.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lillie_L_Davis

Anorexia Nervosa Eating Disorder Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Ironically, as concern grows over the rise in obesity rates, some people battle the opposite problem -- anorexia nervosa. People with anorexia are obsessed with food and their weight and body shape. They attempt to maintain a weight that's far below normal for their age and height. In extreme cases, they may be skeletally thin but still think they're fat. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia may starve themselves or exercise excessively.
Although anorexia centers around food, the disease isn't only about food. Anorexia is an unhealthy way to try to cope with emotional problems, perfectionism and a desire for control. When you have anorexia, you often equate your self-worth with how thin you are.

Anorexia can be chronic and difficult to overcome. But with treatment, you can gain a better sense of who you are, return to healthier eating habits and reverse some of anorexia's serious complications.

Symptoms

People with anorexia nervosa become obsessed with dieting and weight. They develop a fear of becoming fat and have a distorted image of their body, seeing themselves as fat, even when they're very thin.

Under-eating, vigorous exercise, ritualistic food habits and abuse of laxatives cause excessive loss of weight. Most anorexic people have no history of being overweight.

Cause

The cause of anorexia nervosa is not fully understood. It is thought to develop from a mix of physical, emotional, and social triggers.

• Extreme dieting changes how the brain and metabolism work, and it stresses the body. These changes may make you more likely to develop an eating disorder. • Genetics play a big part in anorexia and bulimia. Compared with people who do not have these disorders, people who have eating disorders are more likely to have a family history of an eating disorder, obesity, or a mood disorder (such as anxiety or depression). • A combination of certain personality traits (such as low self-confidence along with perfectionism) and cultural and social pressures can play a part in anorexia. • For some teens, anorexia may be a way of coping with stress and the challenges of the teen years. Stressful life events, such as moving, divorce, or the death of a loved one, can trigger anorexia.

Treatment

Self-Care at Home

• Recognizing that a problem may exist is crucial. • Rarely are people aware of this problem themselves because this disease is defined by a distorted view of their own body image or weight. A family member or friend must recognize the possibility of a medical or psychiatric problem. • A person with anorexia nervosa often resists questioning and is extremely secretive, usually denying any problem and making excuses for weight loss or eating habits. If pressed on the subject, the person may become angry or withdrawn, further complicating attempts by others to help. • If you think a friend or family member has a problem, get that person to a physician, even if she or he strongly resists cooperating. • There is no home remedy.



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Get to Know How Emotional Eating Hypnosis Works

Although considered causing disapproval to some people, emotional eating hypnosis has proved to be one of the most highly successful and healthy types of emotional eating treatments. Hypnosis, for the client or patient, is a simple and relatively inexpensive dealing which can do wonders for alleviating many compulsive habits and disorders, such as smoking; excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages; cyclic use of profane or vulgar language; excessive worried talking, laughter, fidgeting and pacing; persistent insomnia; drug abuse; excessive profligacy; kleptomania; and excessive emotional gluttony.

There are currently several hypnotherapists with busy health related practices now successfully attending to clients and patients of all ages who have a wide variety of distasteful or even debilitating habits, conditions and disabilities. In the past, it was commonly necessary to live near or travel to a city or urban center in order to seek treatment by qualified or certified hypnotists. However, these days, hypnotherapists thrive, even in relatively small rural communities and their surrounding areas.

To triumph over emotional overeating is, for many people, a very complicated if not impossible task to accomplish on their own. Since, in many cases, overeating is caused or encouraged by one`s grief or discomfort with various aspects of livelihood or surroundings, such as job, family life, financial situation and wellbeing issues, often the cause even if identified, understood and confronted by the compulsive overeater cannot be easily or quickly stopped or changed. When dealing with this constant problem, many afflicted attempt to overcome emotional overeating without the experienced assistance of health experts or holistic advisors and practitioners. Although, at first, chronic emotional overeaters may think that they are making improvement toward overcoming their eating disorder, over a length of time they usually take action to practically starving themselves; abusing laxatives, colonics and enemas; often even developing bulimia, in an effort to lighten their anxiety at continuous weight gain from overeating.

Helpful emotional eating treatments usually begin with professional emotional eating analysis. For, it is always necessary to be absolutely sure of the emotional problem being addressed and informed about all of its aspects before understanding the value of a particular advised method of treatment. While cause and effect are important issues in emotional eating counseling and treatments, another important aspect is that of strengthening the individual`s consciousness in order to better control behavior related to ongoing feelings of anxiety or dislike. While some emotional eating treatments may favor strict observance of tough dieting and strict controlling of both frequency and quantities of food consumed, when eventually left unchecked after successfully completing such programs, emotional overeaters often revert to their former behaviors, thus beginning the problem series of emotional overeating all over again. Exercise, of course, plays an important task in emotional eating treatments by helping in controlling compulsive eating. When exercising often, most people find such activity and exertion alleviate the desire and compulsion for as many unhealthy and caloric munchies as they usually indulge in between meals. Generally, eating counseling will emphasize exercise as a means of overcoming emotional overeating, yet there is still a strong inclination for the major pattern in the everyday life of a chronic emotional overeater to be that of overeating.

Thankfully, this is where emotional eating hypnosis prevails. While behavioral psychologists may favor the redirecting or reprogramming method of substitution (and this is a good treatment) in which the overeater learns to redirect the emotional compulsion of overeating to another emotionally controlled activity--for example, dancing, painting, singing, outings and games with good friends and family--many such activities in time involve food and the temptation to overeat once again. In treatment by emotional overeating hypnosis, however, your mind, through guidance of a professionally qualified hypnotist, gains control of your emotional need for hedonism in food.

By learning to take charge and control your unsettled feelings of discomfort, dislike and uneasiness in life, you adhere to the premise that: Although you often cannot control what happens in life, you are master of how you perceive and react to life`s ongoing saga of actions. You eventually come to the realization, through hypnotherapy, that your own perceptions, principles and attitudes are truly what control your emotional reactions, as well as your wellbeing and level of comfort, and even happiness, throughout life. With the help of emotional eating hypnosis, controlling compulsive eating becomes a alternative, a decision, and a lifetime personal health edict



About the Author
Tanya Wiseman writes articles for: Weight-Loss Alternatives

Or see more information on this blog: Stress Related Eating Centers

Dental Recovery from Bulimia Nervosa

Early detection and intervention are important in the recovery and repair of eating disorders like bulimia nervosa. Dental practitioners, particularly a cosmetic dentist, are instrumental in the recovery process as they are often the first health professionals to identify signs and symptoms of this disease. They should be knowledgeable and skilled to assess patients' signs and symptoms.

Pharyngeal soreness and loss of enamel of teeth are thought to result from repeated exposure to acidic gastric acid. This acid was brought about by induced vomiting. The dentist can provide pre-restorative care by protecting exposed dental faces, desensitization of exposed dentin and decreasing solubility of enamel and dentin. Restorative care and referral for treatment are secondary preventive measures provided by the dentist to decrease potential for further damage.

Dental erosions caused by bulimia nervosa include dry mouth, dental caries, periodontal disease and soft tissue lesions. Enamel is lost and tooth sensitivity to different temperatures is increased.
Differences in dental caries are inconsistent resulting from disordered eating which may stem from the patient's oral hygiene, malnutrition, genetic predisposition, and ingestion of certain types of medication.

Other signs associated with this disease are enlarged parotid glands and poor oral hygiene. A dental specialist called cosmetic dentist should assess the patient's readiness for dental treatment. Dental restorations and fixed prosthetics can be done after informing the patient of the hazards involved in such care.

Regular visits to the dentist should be emphasized for close monitoring hard-tissue loss and soft-tissue lesions. Restorative and periodontal health considerations should be addressed. Periodic weight and clinical observations are also important. Your dentist usually provides the patient with custom-made trays and 1.1 percent neutral fluoride gel to be used every five minutes. After vomiting, the patient should rinse with one teaspoon baking soda mixed with eight ounces of water to neutralize the stomach acids that damage tooth enamel.

Preventive measures also include instructions in proper tooth-brushing to minimize enamel loss, the use of tongue cleaner and the importance of drinking water throughout the day to decrease acid content in the mouth. To promote salivary flow, patients can consume sugarless gum and mints sweetened with xylitol. Eating snack foods that do not contain added sugar are important to good oral and general health.

Documentations and photographs of before and after oral changes can be an effective tool to encourage patient's cooperation. This is especially important for children and adolescents who are at risk of damaging their health. Visuals can motivate one to undergo dental restoration and therapy. Close monitoring of the processes done will also help. Confidentiality between patient and practitioner must be observed at all times.

In any case, a cosmetic dentist should find the right approach to opening a dialogue with a patient suspected of having this disorder. It is rather difficult to assist one who does not want to be helped. This dentist can address rehabilitation issues of patients better. Educational and oral health management comes with the territory and each practitioner should be trained for such occasions.



About the Author
Rudy is a writer for Cosmetic Dentist Center, a resource website for people that are interested in purchasing cosmetic dental services. The website also contains a vast list of cosmetic dentists in the US.

Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor Medication and Pregnancy

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a popular class of anti-depressant medication. These drugs are prescribed for the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders and personality disorder. These disorders include obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorders. Research suggests by elevating the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin some symptoms of the disorders seem to be relieved. Low levels of serotonin are often indicated in anxiety disorders.

Adverse Reactions

At first, SSRIs were thought to be much safer than other anti-depressant medication. Adverse reactions were also thought to be mild. Indications of an adverse reaction to an SSRI include:
• Headache
• Nausea
• Drowsiness
• Changes in/diminished sex drive
• Weight/appetite fluctuations
• Increased depression and/or anxiety

The following is a list of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor medications listing their generic names and brand names in parenthesis.
• Citalopram (Celexa)
• Escitalopram (Lexapro)
• Fluoxetine (Prozac)
• Paroxetine (Paxil)
• Sertraline (Zoloft)

Even though SSRIs are not thought to be addictive, discontinuing them suddenly is not recommended. Sudden discontinuation can cause (SSRI discontinuation syndrome). This syndrome causes both psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, physicians recommend a very gradual tapering off of these drugs instead of sudden discontinuation.

Birth Defects and SSRIs

The most disturbing health problems associated with SSRIs in recent years is their link to birth defects in children born to mothers taking these drugs during pregnancy. Infants born to mothers prescribed Zoloft (generic sertraline) were six times more likely to be diagnosed with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) than those infants born to mothers who were not prescribed Zoloft during pregnancy. In addition Celexa (generic citalopram) has been liked to coronary birth defects.



About the Author
If you live in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia or Florida and your child has suffered a birth defect due to anti-depressant medication prescribed to you during your pregnancy, please visit the website of Burke, Harvey & Frankowski, LLC today and learn about your rights and whether you are entitled to compensation.