Monday, March 19, 2007

Anorexia in the Teens of America

With more and more teenage girls suffering from eating disorders, it almost seems that we can do nothing but blame ourselves for creating a society in which an eating disorder seems necessary for a young person. When a teen begins to suffer from anorexia nervosa, it is never just a random snap into having the disease. There are always conditions that have lead up to the teen feeling like she can’t be good enough, or that she needs to change her own image. These conditions come from every single aspect of a teen’s life.

The main culprit blamed for teen anorexia is the media. Many media images depict women as being extremely thin and busty. This is an image that seems to pervade through the media, and may create the delusion in a young girl that this is how all women were meant to be. Lots of girls are naturally a bit chubby during their younger years. When they look at themselves in the mirrors and compare themselves with the magazines and TV ads that they are constantly assaulted with, it can seem like there is a huge deficiency.

This perfect image created by society is not really what a girl should look like, and this should always be made clear to young girls who have grown up around these sorts of images. Models in magazines are usually modified by computer programs extensively, and not even the models look how they look in the magazine. It is a strange and double-sided standard that society had drawn up, and it should not be endangering the health of young girls.

Many girls can also be affected by their peers. Girls at a young age are often extremely brutal in their teasing. A few insults that another girl says or hints at in passing could leave the other girl completely crushed, thinking of nothing but the negative comment. It is unfortunate that girls can be affected so much by the thoughts or comments of a peer, but it is true. In order for anorexia to truly be taken care of, everyone in a girl’s life must be supportive. Not just her family, but her peers as well. Once all of these influences can be altered or removed from the lives of young and impressionable girls, anorexia will quit being a problem.

The Terrible Effects of Anorexia

he effects of anorexia go beyond anything that most people realize. Besides the obvious health problems involved with losing a lot of weight, the victim will deal with trouble in many other areas. These include social problems and family problems, among many others. So if you thought that the only effect of anorexia was the ghastly thinness, read on and find out about why this is a problem that needs to be stopped in its tracks. You may be motivated to finally get the costly expert help that you or a family member really needs.

One effect that many people fail to emphasize is that on the social life of the victim. When someone feels completely disgusted by their own body, they will tend to be much less likely to ever want to be around people. Since those with anorexia are almost constantly thinking about how they look in the eyes of others (and usually this idea is very skewed), they will tend to become antisocial, especially when they feel that they have some sort of strange disease such as anorexia. This can be very damaging to a girl’s friendships, and relationships with family.

The physical effects also go beyond simply being ghastly thin. A girl with anorexia suffers from deficiencies in vitamins that are completely necessary to function healthily. She will also undergo an overall diminish in physical strength. This results in a weak heart, weak muscles, and a poor immune system. All of these things combine to make a very unhealthy person who will be much more at risk for complications such as diseases and accidents.

Anorexia is also responsible for emotional problems in its victims. This includes the usual sense of being too physically imperfect, but the thought process goes much deeper and is much more disturbing than this. The thought process leads the girl to believe that her worth is actually less than that of other human beings, and that by being physically flawed she is no longer a full human, but rather a lowly piece of scum. This is a slippery slope that will just set the stage for later disturbing trends in a girls self esteem. Anorexia is a terrible thing that affects girls for the worse not only physically, but also mentally and socially.

Getting Anorexia Treatment for You or a Loved One

Many people labor under the delusion that anorexia nervosa is not treatable since it is as much a mental condition as physical. However, this is not true at all. There are many professionals in the area of anorexia that are experienced in helping people get over it. The treatment courses usually consist of a sort of camp where the patient stays for as long as a week. There are also therapy sessions that can occur during every meal time for a working person (3 sessions of 20 minutes or so every day, where the therapist comes to the house of the anorexia victim). So look at some of these anorexia treatment techniques, and see if you can’t do something soon.

The most effective way to cure anorexia is to hit it where it originates from: the mind. Therefore, appointments with psychiatrists are the best way to go. These sessions can consist of vastly different therapy techniques which are all meant to help girls with anorexia to become healthier physically and mentally. One of the most popular methods is cognitive behavioral therapy. While this is happening, the girl is being conditioned towards sticking with positive behaviors (in this case, eating a healthy meal and not worrying about her appearance to others). It is proven to be one of the most effective, so if you can find someone who offers this sort of therapy then this may be the way to go.

This sort of therapy comes in the form of the occasional short session. While it can still work, there are other options that are much more intensive. These include eating disorder programs that are a lot like rehab. Patients are checked in and deal with the problem 24/7 until they are deemed to be cured of the problem. These are usually very expensive, but if you have a loved one that suffers from anorexia, nothing should seem impractical.

Anorexia treatment is something that is still progressing constantly, and this is always apparent. The current treatments vary greatly from practitioner to practitioner, and the effects are equally sporadic. The best you can do is to try out as much as possible, and be completely restless when trying to beat the problem.

Finding Support for Anorexia

Anorexia is a terrible problem that plagues young women all over the world. If you suffer from anorexia, you may feel embarrassed to admit it to anyone, or you may want to try and fix it yourself. But when you are suffering through something, nothing can help more than the support of people who understand what you are going through. Therefore, you should join an anorexia support group, and get the help and understanding that you need. There are many outlets for you to meet people who are going through or have been through what you are, and you should be able to do it in no time.

Internet message boards are a great way to meet support groups for Anorexia. It is often preferred by girls due to the anonymity. On internet message boards, the girl won’t have to meet people face to face and admit her problem. It is very impersonal, which is a good thing when it comes to solving problems. The girl will be much more likely to get to the root of the problem, and really open up for deep discussions that could lead to her seeing the light and becoming a healthy person once more.

There are also many camps or retreats for girls who suffer from anorexia. These are usually weekend getaways, or can last as long as a month. They are meant to be intensive and beneficial to the girls. They are run by the top psychologists in the field, and by people who can offer first-hand stories for the girls. These camps can cause amazing progressions in the mental health of someone with anorexia, and should not be discounted when considering options for support.

You can also schedule one-on-one appointments between a psychiatrist and the girl suffering from anorexia. These are very effective, since they are very personal. The doctor dealing with the girl will be able to adjust methods and styles according to what is working well, and attack the problem from many different angles in order to achieve the best results possible.

Ultimately, none of these things can claim to be the best way to fight anorexia. But when someone is able to effectively combine all of them and spend every waking moment dealing with the problem, they will be able to give it the attention it really needs and eventually cure it.

All About The Eating Disorder Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa is a psychological eating disorder that affects many people. There are many factors that contribute to it, including mental, physical, emotional, and social aspects. It is characterized by a distorted image of ones own body. Usually the victim thinks that they are too large. It also has other mental effects, including a lowered level of sociality, poor performance in school or work, and deterioration of relationships with family and friends. All of these things combine to make it a terrible thing for a person to suffer through. It is a huge problem today, and if we understand it then we can take steps towards preventing it or treating it.

Anorexia Nervosa generally stems from the victim feeling negative about her own body. This is usually onset by seeing the perfect standards that society has set in the form of women who are so skinny that they are unhealthy. Girls who are naturally a few pounds overweight may feel like they are ridiculously large, or that they can never be good enough to be attractive. This leads to a constant self-consciousness regarding her own body, and how she appears to other people. Since it is something that she constantly thinks about, often she will take steps that will just lead to unhealthiness.

Anorexia Nervosa victims often have a fear or aversion to food, and will only eat minimal amounts. This may be a general disdain for food, or a fear that eating it will cause her to become too fat. This lack of nutrients leads to many other things that are a side effect, such as a low amount of vitamins, brittle bones, a weak heart, and general frailness. It also causes the victim to become very antisocial, possibly in an attempt to hide herself from the outside world.

If you know anyone that suffers from this condition, you should do everything you can to be encouraging and supportive. Many people fail to realize that it is a real problem affecting many people, and that it is something that can lead to many different complications in the health and social life of the victim. By understanding what she is going through, you will be able to provide the emotional support that is required to beat it and become a healthy person once more.