ANOREXIA -THE PESTILENCE OF 21st CENTURY

Silviya Madina

Your friend eats one carrot a day? She looks herself in the mirror all day long and has unreal notion for her outlook? She has an obsessive fear of getting weight? These symptoms are not fanciful but an eloquent fact for one serious disease - Anorexia. It is a psychiatric diagnosis which is typical mostly for women, crazy for the idea to fit in the frames of perfect skinny woman - "Twwigy" type. In 1689 the English doctor Richard Martin wrote: "mental disease, caused by sadness and anxiety". Defined like psychiatric disease in 17 century, anorexia becomes more and more dangerous nowadays. The main reason of that are the skinny models from the fashion stages, who often become an example of beauty. Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by low body weight (at least 15 % less than the normal for the age and height), controlled by voluntary starvation, self- induced purging, excessive use of appetite suppressants or dioretics.

People who suffer from anorexia are mostly women at the age of 16- 30, but this doesn`t mean that men don`t suffer of it. Contrariwase, investigations show that the number of the anorexic men is increasing rapidly. Remember, everybody can become a victim of anorexia, no matter the age, sex or situation.

Not aware of the adolescent sudden changes, girls between 11- 15 years old are shocked by every new kilo and they are very scared of getting weight. This often leads not only to decreasing the day - food, but also to absolute refusal of eating. Soon comes the depression, the reduce of self- confidence and the conflict attitude to everybody and everything. Even more dramatic are the effects of stopping period, hair loss, suffering from anemia and other blood problems. In more delevoped phase, anorexia can cause fatigue and overall weakness, growth of fine hairs all over the body, fluttering of the heart, too dry and peeling skin.Typical are also the loss of bone minerals, low blood pressure and slow metabolism.

Many people are of the opinion that anorexia has a psichiological base and it turns to be even kind of fashion. It is proofed that anorexia is associated with changes in the main brain, which is responsible for the appetite. The scientists Vagner and Kaye made an experiment: they offered to 16 anorexic women and 16 healthy ones to taste sugar and destilated water with neutral taste. After that they scanned the brains of the women so they can see whether there were some differences. It turned out that the activity of the brain part, which is resposible for the taste and the destinguishing of the flavours, is much lower to the anorexic women than to the others. So anorexics almost don`t feel the taste of the food and the process of psychological reward for the ate food is disturbed. It looks like this is the main reason they don`t want to eat even they are physiologically hungry.

Anorexia is psichological sickness which is not a result, but a reason for eating disorder. Very often, even before anorexics start to "regulate" their eating, appears increased anxiety. Problems are more often connected with the family, intimate relations or the crytical attitude of friends. At that time appear some strange toughts that if they loose weight a lot of things will change: they will be happier, more liked, their life will change in a better way. Following strict diets, anorexics become purposeful and dashing, as a result, they start loosing weight. Frequently, before the disturbing symptoms are so obvious, the sick people receive some positive comments for their outlook from friends, which proof the conviction that strict diets help them be happier. Keeping a diet makes anorexics feel strong and control the anxiety, which caused the sickness. Typical are also the high self- esteem and the drastical changes in character.

It`s proofed that 30 % of the anorexics don`t realise how serious is their condition and they try to convince themselves that they just perfectly control their eating. Also 30 % of them have per one deadly crisis, but even at that time they don`t wanna confess their problem. Cases of dead from anorexia are increased, and around 5 - 18 % of the hospitalized are dying from hunger or suicide. The monologue in the head of an anorexic, the imaginary dialogue with the "friend Anna-Anorexia", is very interesting. You can find it here

The younger sister of Anorexia is Bulimia,which is also so insidious and wide spread sickness for our century. This is kind of eating disorder, connected with eating huge amounts of food, followed by self- induced cleaning of the organism - vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics and so on. Bulimia is also associated with loss of nutrition control and permanent, maniacal concentration on weight and forms. This disease is found much more later than anorexia and is firstly described by the French psichiologist Pier Brig. Bulimia is extremely dangerous disease and it is so hard to be noticed becausethere aren't any visible symptomes. The bulimics are with different weight, some of them are stout, others are more fat, third are with absolutely normal weight. The problem is that they don`t like themselves and are doing everything to loose weight. But at the same time they can`t cope with the bulimic crises. Such fits of uncontrollable eating appear 2- 3 times per week and take around 2 hours. Bulimia is also typical disease mostly for women and girls (11- 40 years old). They are so ashamed of their glutton, so they are trying to throw out the eaten food by self- induced volmiting.

The reasons for bulimia are a lot. More often they are depression and over- weight in the past, specially at childhood and adolescency, when girls start to control strictlly their weight. There are some anorexics who also have bulimic fits. The strong, uncontrollable hunger can be a reaction of chronical starvation. It is proofed that a lot of anorexics become bulimics in the future.

The youngest sister of Anorexia is Ortorexia. This is a new resent disease also connected with eating disorder. Ortorexia is a nervous mania of healthy life. Even though it is quite new and not enought studied, this disease is wide spread not only around USA but also around Bulgaria. Its variety is the mania of healthy nutrition which has already become a new kind of psychiacal disease, wide spread around the developed contries. People who suffer from it give up the sugar and poli- concentrated acids. Maniacally they are reading and studing for the food consumption, counting each gramm, each calory and when they ate something "favourite,but forbidden", they pay their penalty with hunger.

It turns out that anorexia, bulimia and ortorexia close one vice cycle, the escape from which is impossible without professional medical help. But don`t think everything is lost, because your cure depends mostly on you. You have to fight psychiologically with your complexes, not to hide your problems from people who love you, to like yourself the way you are! Look at the mirror and see the beautiful girl in you, don`t wait for the moment when you will be just a bag of bones.. Live healthy life but without stric restrictions! Go in for sport more often, but don`t overexersise! Listen carefully to your body and try to look not lean and meagre but vigorous and sexy.

Here are some professional advices, which psychiatrists reccomend to their patients suffering from anorexia, bulimia or ortorexia:

1. Think carefully whether your skinny friends are more liked than you are?
2. Look around and find your habby, which will help you to go out of your depression.
3. Don`t keep away from your friends and family, because they are your closest people, who want to help you in this hard moment.
4. Be optimistic and believe in the good future.
5. Remember that you are getting weight not from food, but from its irregular use.

If you are suffering from anorexia or bulimia, you should know that the way you have to pass is very hard, but with cares, patience, willingness and love the disease can be surmounted.

Pictures:

1 - 3. Unhealthy thin women suffering from developed phase of anorexia.
4. Men also suffer from anorexia and bulimia.
5. Bulimic crises which cause hunger pangs and insomnia, followed by feeling of guilt, after the huge amount of eaten food.
6. The results which bulimia causes to your body.
7. The unreal notion for the outlook of people suffering from anorexia, bulimia and ortorexia.

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