Eating Disorders
When people hear of someone with an eating disorder they often assume the person has a food or diet problem. Eating disorders are not a sign that a person has a problem with their diet or the food that they eat, but a sign that there’s underlying problem(s) in their life that that need to be addressed. Before children enter school they are under a tremendous amount of pressure from their parents, relatives, friends and the media that they need to act or behave a certain way to fit in. Part of “fitting in” means that you have to fulfill an image to meet the demands of societal looks, fashion and behavior. This, compounded with the growing trend to be successful often leads some individuals to find away out of the pressure and demands. For some, it’s chemicals (alcohol and drugs). For others, it involves other forms of addictive behavior that come with an eating disorder.
By definition, an eating disorder is a psychological disorder centering on the avoidance, excessive consumption, or purging of food. When eating becomes an individual’s object of dependency and interferes with a “balance” in life, a disorder is occurring. An eating disorder is an illness. It is also treatable. The most common examples of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and compulsive eating.
For more in-debt information regarding eating disorders (i.e. What is Anorexia?), please refer to the other eating disorder articles on this site.
