A complex disease, anorexia is an eating disorder which, beyond the significant drop in weight, hides deep psychological suffering. It affects young adolescents, young girls most of the time, and requires specific medical support to help the patient recover.
Listed as an eating disorder, anorexia is a disease manifested by a decrease or even disappearance of food through refusal of food or lack of desire, then a loss of appetite that results. The person systematically refuses to eat and becomes extremely thin or even skinny. Patients lose up to 25% of their original weight dramatically. A significant change in physical appearance is noticed. Forms fade and muscles disappear. The subject became obsessed with his body image.
You should know that anorexia generally manifests itself in two ways. On the one hand, there is restrictive anorexia, which is the most common. Rejection of food and phobia of weight gain are among the main manifestations. The individual wants to control everything in his environment whether it is from a physical, relational or emotional point of view. He expresses a strong need for control and detaches himself from all forms of pleasure:sexual, food, emotional...
On the other hand, we find anorexia bulimia manifested by the absorption of large quantities of food followed by induced or spontaneous vomiting. People prone to this disease are usually at risk for depression with feelings of self-shame and disgust.
Whether bulimic or restrictive, anorexia is caused by a number of factors, often of psychological origin.
There are a number of factors contributing to anorexia. You should know that this disease can be genetic. Having a relative who has experienced this problem increases personal risk. People with personality disorders can potentially be affected:introverted with difficulty managing conflicts, dissatisfied with themselves, afraid of change, perfectionists, displaying a desire to master everything... Cultural pressure is also pointed out of the finger since being thin has almost become a rule that the media hammer in press articles or fashion photos.
Especially in adolescence, this severe form of food deprivation is often generated by a stressful episode in life such as parental divorce, bereavement, change, puberty, the first setbacks in love, rape or sexual assault. Deprivation is accentuated when the adolescent is teased, influenced by television reports or wants to look like a famous person at all costs.
The undernutrition of an anorexic person has very serious impacts on their health, to name only the cessation of menstruation, infertility, hair loss, headaches, visual disturbances, dizziness, pain abdominal pain, bloating, stomach aches, cramps, insomnia or even muscle weakness. Other signs may appear such as a drop in blood potassium, a crisis of tetany or constipation. From the psychological point of view, the symptoms that appear are the loss of joy in life and humor, a permanent state of anger, an absence of sexual desire and problems with memory and concentration.
Thirty years ago, the treatment of anorexia consisted in setting up a systematic break with the family environment likely to be at the origin of the problem, often accompanied by isolation. But today, the situation has changed a lot. The therapeutic approach is more personalized. The person is followed by a doctor, a psychologist-psychotherapist, a dietician, a psychiatrist, a hospital service and support groups.
This multidisciplinary team carries out a school assessment, somatic and psychological follow-up with hospitalization in the event of severe malnutrition. Specialists recommend the family framework, but in a defined way. You should also know that there are no standard drugs to cure anorexia. Anxiolytics and antidepressants are nevertheless prescribed.
For a person to recover permanently, he must realize his illness and its seriousness. She needs to regain her self-confidence and have a better image of herself. It is important that she accepts the care while placing all her trust in the medical team.
As long as the care is taken early, the disorders can more easily and quickly disappear. Family therapies are strongly recommended and are combined with treatment.
One of the best ways to cure anorexia is to join specialized support associations. In addition to specialized listening to the concerns related to anorexia, the sick person and the family benefit from reliable information on the medical advances made on this subject. The associations also organize information days or seminars around anorexia as well as discussion groups during which families talk about their experience. When choosing this type of association, it is advisable to favor those which are recognized by an authority, which have no commercial or philosophical character and which are recommended by medical teams.
Affecting 70,000 adolescents and young women between the ages of 15 and 25, anorexia can be treated with specialized support, provided that the sick person accepts their illness and the help offered to them. If a third of anorexics get out of it, a second third is victim of persistent malaise. The last third is prone to depression with severe malnutrition. This is proof that even if the results are there, this disease requires personal investment and a strong will to get out of it.
