Why are eating disorders dangerous?

Eating disorders involve serious health problems that affect the body’s ability to obtain adequate nutrition. It is estimated that in Spain the prevalence rate of Eating Disorders (ED) affects about 4-5% of the population between 12 and 21 years old.

The list of the main eating disorders is headed by anorexia nervosa (0.3%) and bulimia nervosa (0.8%), especially among the female population, although the male population is increasingly making its presence felt. These percentages are actually higher due to the low clinical diagnosis due to the low perception of the population of suffering from these disorders masked by the aesthetic profile of current fashion.

One of the dangers of these disorders is that they are not easily identifiable until some time has passed. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the signs that may lead us to suspect that someone is suffering from an ED. These signs are behaviors that may be related to the disorder and in order to diagnose it, it is essential that the affected person be evaluated by mental health professionals.

Some warning signs are:

  • Excessive slowness or speed with which food is finished.
  • Avoidance of family meals
  • Leaving the table and locking oneself in the bathroom after each meal
  • Feeling guilty about eating
  • Constant preoccupation with food
  • Practice of self-induced vomiting
  • Unjustified weight loss
  • Exaggerated fear and rejection of being overweight
  • Obsession with weight
  • Erroneous perception of having a fatty body
  • Excessive physical exercise
  • Alteration of academic or work performance

These are just a few of the many warning signs that can give us an inkling that someone is suffering or starting to suffer from symptoms related to ED.

Why does the eating disorder appear?

There is no direct cause or single explanation to understand the reason for this complex issue. Its origin is multifactorial and it is necessary to know that eating disorders do not manifest themselves suddenly nor do they appear without giving any kind of warning.

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There are genetic, sociocultural, familial, psychological and personal factors and within each category we find precipitating and predisposing factors that motivate the onset of the disorder. The interaction between predisposing and precipitating factors usually generates body dissatisfaction that leads to a desire to lose weight.

Treatment

In most cases, treatment is based on psychotherapy and psycho-nutrition, with the possibility of pharmacological indication by the psychiatrist.

The treatment period is usually long and complex, but in 70% of cases the person affected by an ED eventually overcomes it.

The aim of the treatment is to provide the patient with the necessary tools through a comprehensive treatment to address all the causes and consequences of the disease. For this, it is necessary to have a multidisciplinary team made up of different specialists, such as: psychiatrist, psychologist, nutritionist, nurse, etc.

The aim of the treatment should be to restore the nutritional status- which at the same time will already restore the patient’s weight-, provide education on healthy food management with its emotional pattern and give psychological tools to be able to improve their more personal area that may be causing the TCA.