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Anorexia Nervosa from: Anorexia Treatment

Anorexia Nervosa is a psychological disease to have an intense fear of gaining weight which also leads to rapid loss of weight. It is a type of eating disorder that may even become fatal. This disease is more prevalent among the feminine gender compared to males. Moreover, since the most primitive symptoms of this disease include the zest for thinness, the victims who suffer from this disease will limit themselves from food that he or she eats. Anorexia is considered to be a type of disease that is difficult to be diagnosed because of the non-acceptance of the patients. In the sections below, more information can be found about the diagnosis, symptoms of anorexia and the treatment to overcome this disease!

Symptoms of Anorexia:

The victims of anorexia do not actually consider themselves as being affected. The most common symptoms of this disease is the rapid or extreme loss of weight.

• Loss of appetite
• Excessive weight loss
• Obsession with food, calories, and fat content
• Dieting even when too skinny
• Intense fear of gaining weight, even when underweight
• Body dysmorphia—distorted self-image of being overweight despite evidence to the contrary
  

  Anorexia- Body dysmorphia from: University of Virginia Health System

• Loss of menstrual periods or delay in menarche
• Excessive exercising
• Feeling cold, especially hands and feet
• Being secretive about food
• Hair loss and/or growth of fine hair on the body
• Fainting or severe light-headedness
• Constipation
• Depression / anxiety / social withdrawal
• Heart palpitations 
• Sleep disorder, and therefore tired all day

If you are interested in doing a self-assessment (takes less than 10 minutes) for any signs of eating disorder, click here.

Treatments of Anorexia:

Since the victims of anorexia usually deny the fact that themselves are being affected, help and cooperation of people around are extremely important. There can be several ways to treat this disease: therapy and medication.

• Therapy:

1. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Through this therapy, the therapists discuss with their patients about their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to help them develop a healthier and more realistic self-image. This way, the patients will find new ways to think about their body and their diet.
2. Family Therapy – The roles of patients’ family members is very important. The whole family often has to play a role in eating disorders to provide support. In order to be successful, all members of the family must fully understand the disorder.

• Medication:

1. Olanzapine: has been tested to be shown effective in treating anorexia. The effects include: helping to raise the body mass index, reducing obsessionality(obsessional thoughts about food), stimulating appetite, and causing the body to store fat.  

 A quote from the commercial above:

“Anorexia. The saddest part is that those who have it, don’t see it. Help them find help.”

Stay strong, you look beautiful! 🙂

Hayoung Nam