Is it possible to get anorexia?

Causes

Why does anorexia appear? It is impossible to determine the exact cause of the development of this disease. This condition can be provoked by gradual exposure to the following factors:

• physical or sexual abuse;
• authoritarianism of parents, the child does not feel love, warmth, support from childhood;
• excessive parental care, leading to lack of independence in adulthood;
• aversion to appearance;
• prolonged drug use;
• hereditary eating disorder;
• severe emotional shocks, such as the death of a close relative, divorce;
• change of usual environment in childhood or adolescence;
• forced food intake.

Almost all reasons have a psychological basis. But over time, the physical condition also suffers. The advanced stage of anorexia leads to dangerous, even fatal, consequences.

Stages of anorexia

This psychosomatic disease is divided into the following stages, depending on the manifestation of symptoms:

1. Initial stage. The disease gradually develops over 3-4 years. The opinion of others about the patient’s appearance plays a vital role. At the same time, the person is extremely dissatisfied with the way he looks.
2. Anorectic stage. It is characterized by a pathological desire to lose weight. At this stage, the patient loses about 30-50% of his total body weight.
3. Cachetic stage. It manifests itself with the following signs: absence of menstrual periods in girls, hormonal imbalance, low blood pressure and body temperature.

It is important to know! Anorexia can develop over many years! But the sooner you provide qualified assistance to the patient, the less consequences there will be in the form of serious health problems.

Morbidity statistics

According to statistics, in 25% of patients anorexia becomes chronic. At the same time, 5% of anorexics die from exhaustion or commit suicide. This is one of the most common diseases among teenagers.

Anorexia, or How can one reach such a life

Author Alexandra Balan-Senchuk

Updated: 10/23/2019 14:44 Published: 09/05/2019 21:09

Health

Anorexia nervosa is believed to be caused by a variety of factors, with psychological, environmental and biological triggers playing a role.

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However, some people may have multiple risk factors without being affected, and other people who are not at high risk may develop symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Therefore, the specific causes of this condition are still unclear.

Psychological factors

There are certain personality and behavioral traits that are associated with anorexia nervosa, and they are believed to be involved in the development of this condition. These factors include:

• History of depression or anxiety.
• Poor stress management.
• Excessive fear or doubt about the future.
• Restraint of emotions.
• Tendency to perfectionism.
• Feelings of obsession and compulsion.
• Fear of being fat.

Environmental factors

There are several environmental factors that can influence a person's likelihood of being affected by anorexia nervosa.

Cultural and social norms in modern society place a high value on physical beauty, and in Western culture, a petite figure is generally considered more beautiful. This concept is reinforced by media reports, in magazines and online sources, which focus on the physical beauty and minor flaws of celebrities.

The pressure to conform to an idealized body image can also affect a person's health and increase the risk of developing anorexia nervosa. For example, people who work or participate in activities such as dance or sports experience greater pressure to maintain their body shape to acceptable standards.

Other environmental factors may include:

• Stress at school or work.
• Physical or sexual abuse.
• Difficult family relationships.
• Bullying about weight or shape.
• Stressful life events (eg, job loss, relationship breakup).

In many cases, anorexia occurs due to a strict diet that becomes excessive and unhealthy, leading to pathological thinking and outcomes.

Biological factors

It has been proven that people with a family history of eating disorders, depression or substance abuse will be susceptible to developing this condition.

This may occur due to a genetic link that is inherited from parents, although it can also be an acquired trait from external circumstances, such as developing negative thoughts about body image similar to other family members.

It is also believed that feelings of stress, anxiety and low self-esteem can be one of the main reasons for the development of anorexia.

Improper brain chemistry may also be involved in this process. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulates the release of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, which affect a person's mood and appetite. People with anorexia nervosa often have decreased levels of serotonin and norepinephrine, suggesting that they may be involved in the pathology of the condition.

Photo: sexsagar.info

How to get anorexia nervosa

You can get anorexia quite quickly. There are a number of negative factors that contribute to its appearance. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Poor nutrition

In order to get sick if you are fat, the first rule that leads to anorexia is ignoring a balanced diet. The girl voluntarily refuses the bulk of food. But to really lose weight, you need to have meat, bread and even butter in your diet. This will help saturate the body with the vitamins and minerals necessary for normal functioning. For normal weight loss, you need to create a competent diet for 1 day or a week. With severe food restrictions, a woman quickly becomes overtired and loses her ability to work.

Poor nutrition, which leads to anorexia, helps a girl lose weight as quickly as possible. But your health will leave much to be desired. Also, a total lack of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and carbohydrates leads to a deterioration in appearance. Skin, hair and nails look unhealthy.

Complete refusal to eat

How many days can it take to develop anorexia if you completely stop eating? In fact, this disease does not depend on food intake. Anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder. Therefore, you can get sick in 1 day.

When a debilitating diet does not give the desired result, potential anorexics completely refuse to eat, arguing that a person can live without food for 3 weeks.

Indeed, the life expectancy of a person without any food is 21 days. But pathological destructive processes are observed much earlier. When they first begin, the anorexic will not even want to admit it to himself. By the time he seeks help, it may already be too late.

How to drive yourself to anorexia?

Many people mistakenly believe that anorexia is excessive thinness. In fact, this is not so, thinness is called dystrophy and is a consequence of anorexia. But the now popular term denotes a disease whose full name is anorexia nervosa. This condition is characterized by eating disorders and severe and deliberate weight loss. As a rule, the desire to become slimmer in this case becomes pathological and is inextricably linked with the fear of gaining a lot of weight.

How to drive yourself to anorexia?

In fact, the question of how to cause anorexia is very simple. We present a list of harmful tips that, in just a few months, will turn a healthy, thriving girl into a weakened creature with an eating disorder:

1. Constantly feel guilty about eating. When you eat anything, even a leaf of lettuce, reproach yourself, call yourself a glutton and forbid yourself to go near the refrigerator for another 3 days.
2. Be sure to use anorectics for weight loss. The more questionable the pills, their composition and origin, the better! And the dosage indicated on the package is for weaklings; you can take anorectics unlimitedly.
3. Instead of eating three times a day, eat a full meal only at breakfast and drink water the rest of the time. Only water - other drinks are too high in calories.
4. From time to time, think about chewing your food and spitting it out rather than swallowing it. Or induce vomiting after eating. Or, at worst, drink a laxative. These are great ways to avoid being overweight!
5. Count calories and set records. Instead of the required minimum of 1200 calories per day, eat only 400-500 or less. If you feel weak, drink water.
6. Develop a contemptuous attitude towards any food, especially high-calorie and fatty foods. Hate food and everything connected with it. Avoid family dinners and feasts.
7. Even if you weigh 35 kg with a height of 170, this is not a reason to stop! A couple more kilograms - and you will definitely be perfect. Everyone knows that you can't be too thin!
8. If people are intimidated by you and ask if you ever played the role of an Auschwitz prisoner, hold your head up proudly - because they are overweight and they are just jealous of you!
9. When you are called a victim of anorexia, act bewildered: after all, the fact that you eat only 3 times a week cannot be considered an eating disorder!
10. Always be afraid to gain weight. Even if your weight has been stable for 3 months, this does not guarantee that tomorrow you will not gain the weight back!
11. If you have missed your period, this is not a reason to worry, continue not to eat anything.

With this information, the question of how to drive yourself to anorexia will be extremely simple for you. You can easily spoil your health and gain a tortured, exhausted appearance with faded hair, brittle nails, gray skin and degeneration of internal organs.

So maybe it’s still worth thinking about and under no circumstances following such advice? Not only health, but also life is at stake, since statistics show that 10% of anorexics die 1.5-2 years after the onset of the disease.

There is a way out - you need to seek help from specialists in time and then you will have a chance to return to normal life, gain strength, vitality and restore lost health.

How to get rid of anorexia?

If you can get a mental disorder quite easily, then the question of how to overcome anorexia is quite difficult to solve without the help of a specialist.

By contacting a specialist, you will probably receive a referral for a lot of tests and will have to visit a psychotherapist. As a rule, in such cases, pharmacotherapy is also used, but only as an adjunct.

During treatment, the reasons why a person received such a disorder are determined, and measures are taken to eliminate them. In addition, a certain diet and a special recovery diet are prescribed. Only as a result of long and complex treatment can the horrors of anorexia recede and the body return to normal.

Tip #1 To hell with a balanced diet

When a girl decides to lose weight, she voluntarily gives up many foods. Some of them are harmful, for example, sweets; and some are very necessary - but impossible. In order for the body to receive at least the minimum amount of all necessary minerals and trace elements, nutritionists have compiled a balanced menu for girls losing weight. It contains meat, bread and even a little butter. Everything to ensure that the body does not experience stress and remains able to work. Unfortunately, such diets do not allow you to lose weight as quickly as you want. Therefore, you will not take into account the advice of nutritionists and develop your own menu. Monday - two apples, Tuesday - oatmeal and tea, Wednesday - water. As a result, after a week of eating this way, you will feel simply disgusting, you will be overcome by weakness, headaches and drowsiness. But you will lose as much as 5 kilograms in a week and take time off from work to relax.

Consequences : You will lose weight faster than other, more sensible girls, but over time you will begin to feel unwell. By not eating everything your body needs, you will not only create vitamin deficiency, but also a deficiency of amino acids, carbohydrates, and minerals. All this together will lead to a deterioration in appearance. A lack of calcium will cause your nails to break and your joints to ache; the lack of collagen will affect the condition of the skin and the like. Vitamins play a huge role in the functioning of a healthy body, and if there are not enough of them or none at all, this instantly affects a person’s systemic health.