Disorders After Dieting

While wanting to lose weight to avoid illness and disease or to improve physical appearance or ability in a sport or activity is fairly common in today's society, dieting to lose weight can often lead to serious disorders that if not treated properly can lead to death. One of the more common disorders that results from dieting is eating disorders, and often the issues that lead to these disorders include problems with body image, ineffective coping strategies, loss of identity or a lack of perceived control. Gaining a better understanding of some of these disorders can help in both prevention and treatment.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a morbid fear of obesity, a distorted sense of body image and a refusal to maintain even a minimally normal body weight. Anorexia can stem from several causes, including the biological, through genetics; the psychological, resulting from combined emotional and psychological makeup; and the sociocultural, resulting from social pressures to be thin. According to Dr. John Berardi, anorexia has the highest death rate of any mental illness, and problems during the course of the disease include lung problems, kidney problems, heart failure and bone loss.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia is characterized by episodes of binge eating in which the individual eats enormous amounts of food, overwhelmed by the feeling that she cannot stop eating. Then, in an effort to avoid weight gain, the individual will use strategies to rid their bodies of the food, including self-induced vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, or participating in extreme fasting. Berardi reports that while bulimics are typically of normal weight, they are extremely apprehensive about their body shape and weight. He says patients tend to be college-educated and display irritability, loneliness, sadness and suicidal behavior. They often have overweight parents who taught them to use food as a coping strategy. Most of the complications from this disease are a result of using the purging technique, which erodes dental enamel, causes swollen salivary glands, and can cause severe electrolyte and fluid imbalances in the body.

Anorexia Athletica

Anorexia athletica is when an individual uses excessive amounts of exercise to control bodyweight. These individuals do not feel like exercise is a choice; they feel like they have to exercise. Extreme guilt and anxiety result if exercise is not done, leading to compulsory behavior that results from a feeling of a lack of control over their lives. Berardi says this disease is often stimulated by beginning to diet at an early age, and symptoms of this disorder include dry skin, hair loss, digestive difficulties, slowed heart rate, low blood pressure, kidney problems and suppressed immune function.

Binge Eating

Binge eating is similar to bulimia, but purging does not accompany this disorder. Eating episodes are characterized very specifically with this disorder, and include eating rapidly and eating until physically uncomfortable. Chronic diet is cited as a predisposition to binge eating by Berardi, and he says that more than one quarter of patients in weight control programs binge at least twice a month. Traumatic events such as abuse, mood disorders and severe stress lead to binge eating. Depression is often a result of this disorder, along with lifelong weight issues and emotional distress.

Considerations

If you or someone you know demonstrates any of the above symptoms or life circumstances, it is imperative to seek the guidance of both a medical doctor and a medical professional licensed to deal with emotional and psychological stresses and disorders. Eating disorders can be treated, although in some cases, it becomes a lifelong battle that will require constant work and attention to avoid relapses, as well as the physical effects the disorders can cause.