What is an eating disorder?

Eating disorders can be defined as psychological changes and disturbances related to food that directly interfere with the individual's health as a whole, both physical and mental. These drastic changes in eating behavior can lead to both excess and scarcity.

The problems related to the diet are not only physical ailments, because these disorders begin in the mind of the individual. The fact that he does not see himself in a positive way, can cause him to develop an eating disorder. Among them, it is possible to mention bulimia, anorexia, vigorexia, among other problems whose roots are in the mind of the individual.

Want to know more about what they are and what the treatment for each eating disorder is? Check it out in this article!

Causes of the eating disorder

It is always important to emphasize that there is no specific cause for the emergence of an eating disorder. There are several causes and each one should be considered carefully in the diagnosis. Learn more about the causes below!

Genetic factors

Psychological problems related to food can be triggered due to genetic factors, that is, if you have first-degree relatives who presented this condition, you have propensity for it. There are some researches that show the existence of some means of transmission of the disease to family members.

In addition, through some studies conducted with twins, scientists have found that genetics is indeed a possible trigger of eating disorders. Therefore, if you have or had a first-degree relative with this problem, it is important to stay alert.

Biological factors

Biological factors are also determinant for the emergence of eating disorders. Some scholars believe that changes in some neurotransmitters of the brain, such as serotonin, for example, which is responsible for regulating sleep, mood, heartbeat and also appetite, may be responsible for the disorders.

Therefore, to better understand the role of serotonin in the body and also how it can influence the onset of eating disorders, seek a specialized professional.

Psychological factors

Eating disorders can also arise due to psychological factors. Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and childhood traumas serve as a springboard for the eating disorder to emerge. From the moment an individual has a distorted image about himself, he is more likely to suffer from this problem.

Considering that the individual is not satisfied with his own appearance, he begins to radicalize with regard to food. This causes him to develop problems such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, among others.

Social factors

Many people are unaware of this, but social factors can also favor the emergence of eating disorders. Beauty standards exposed in shop windows and preached by postmodern society are one of the main villains, because they create an image that often can not be achieved, which generates a deep frustration.

Many people end up having trouble accepting themselves because they don't fit into what society considers the maximum standard of beauty. This is a trigger for the emergence of eating disorders.

Food compulsion

Binge eating is characterized by the presence of moments in which the individual feels a deep urge to eat wildly, even without being hungry. He ends up losing control over himself and eats excessively. Learn what are the symptoms of this disorder and the treatment to follow!

Symptoms

Some of the main symptomatic manifestations of those who have binge eating are the fact of eating excessively and having difficulty stopping, even when they are not hungry, ingesting food very quickly and even eating strange things such as, for example, cold beans or raw rice.

The presence of excess weight is also a characteristic factor of binge eating. Since the individual is eating unrestrainedly, it is natural for him to gain weight, which is very dangerous because it can trigger some even more serious problems.

Treatment

To treat binge eating, the patient should seek to start treatment with a psychologist, so that the cause of the compulsion can be identified and the episodes where the individual loses control over himself can be controlled. A consultation with a nutritionist is also essential in this recovery process.

The nutritionist will provide the necessary information so that the individual with binge eating can re-educate his eating habits and recover from the compulsion. Consequently, some problems caused by the disorder, such as high cholesterol levels and fat accumulated in the liver, will be avoided.

Bulimia

Bulimia is a disease where the individual, in several moments, suffers with episodes of compulsive eating, more specifically by the fact of overeating. However, the bulimic individual, unlike the compulsive, presents some compensatory behaviors. Learn more below!

Symptoms

As previously mentioned, the individual who is a carrier of bulimia frequently suffers with the occurrence of binge eating, where he cannot control his own appetite and eats wildly. However, different from this eating disorder, bulimia is characterized by the presence of compensatory behaviors.

This means that the individual who has this eating disorder is always trying to force vomiting, makes use of laxatives and diuretics, besides spending a long period of time without eating and practicing physical activities excessively.

Treatment

The individual with bulimia needs to seek treatment with a specialized professional as soon as possible, considering the risks that this disease brings. The recovery process of the person with bulimia begins with a psychological follow-up, so that this individual does not suffer with food-related behaviors again.

Throughout the treatment, the patient may also be submitted to the use of medication, so that he/she can control his/her own anxiety and vomiting. At the slightest sign of the appearance of this condition, seek a specialized professional and start treatment.

Anorexia

Anorexia is an eating disorder that causes the individual to have a distorted view about their own body. For example, a person who is underweight sees themselves as someone who is overweight, because anorexia acts directly on the mind of the individual. Learn more below!

Symptoms

The main symptom of anorexia consists of looking at oneself in the mirror and always feeling overweight, even though one is underweight or even malnourished. In addition, the act of not eating, being excessively attentive to the calories a certain meal has before eating, avoiding eating in public, are also symptoms of anorexia.

However, the symptoms do not stop there, the anorexic individual also practices excessive physical exercise, always aiming to lose weight, and takes medicine for this purpose. If you or someone else presents these symptoms, immediately seek the help of a specialized professional.

Treatment

In order to recover from anorexia, the individual needs to undergo psychotherapy, which helps the patient to change their own behavior in relation to food and to see their body in a more positive way. In some cases, the use of medication for depression and anxiety is necessary.

The monitoring of a professional nutritionist is also of fundamental importance, due to the fact that the anorexic will need to change their habits and have a healthier diet. To reinforce the nutrients obtained through the diet recommended by a nutritionist, the patient can use food supplements,

Orthorexia

Orthorexia can be defined as the habit of worrying exaggeratedly about what you eat. This generates a certain obsession with eating well. There is an exacerbated concern to consume healthy foods and extreme control of calories and quality. Learn more about this disease below!

Symptoms

The main symptom of orthorexia is the fact that the individual is exaggeratedly concerned about their own diet. In addition, the orthorexic individual studies a lot about healthy eating, avoids processed foods or foods rich in fat or sugar, is afraid to eat in bars or restaurants, always prioritizes organic products and strictly plan all meals.

It is important to make a separation between health care and orthorexia, because this eating disorder is nothing more than an exaggerated concern about what you eat, which leads the individual to have extreme behaviors.

Treatment

In order to recover, the orthorexic individual must undergo medical evaluations and also follow up with a psychologist so that he can improve his relationship with food. The aim of treatment is to make the patient aware of the fact that he can lead a healthy life without having to take extreme measures.

Many people take care of their health and avoid processed foods, however, they do it in a controlled way. Orthorexics make themselves extreme restrictions, which even end up interfering with their health.

Vigorexia

Vigorexia is characterized by the obsessive search for the perfect body, causing the individual to exercise excessively, even reaching a state of complete physical exhaustion. Learn more below!

Symptoms

As vigorexia is an obsession for the practice of physical exercises in search of a perfect body, the symptoms are naturally linked to physical exhaustion. As much as the individual is in search of a beautiful body, this should occur gradually.

Extreme tiredness, irritability, excessive use of food supplements, physical activity until a state of physical exhaustion is reached, always being concerned about food, insomnia and muscle pain are characteristic symptoms of this problem.

Treatment

The treatment of vigorexia is done through psychotherapy. It is done in order to make the patient accept his own body and be up to date with his self-esteem. In addition, he also receives nutritional counseling, so that he can have a more appropriate diet.

The vigoréxico also receives guidance on the excessive use of supplements, in addition to receiving the prescription of a more appropriate diet for workouts, so that your body does not suffer from the damage of physical exhaustion.

Gourmet Syndrome

According to scientific researches, the Gourmet Syndrome can be defined as an exaggerated concern about the whole process that involves the preparation of a certain meal. This takes over the mind of the patient, who pays attention to every detail, from the purchase of ingredients to the way the dish is served. Learn more below!

Symptoms

Among the main symptoms of this syndrome are the consumption of dishes considered not very common, i.e., exotic or with some ingredient that is not usually consumed by people, excessive anxiety about the choice of ingredients for the meal, excessive time spent in the kitchen, exacerbated care in food preparation and excessive concern about how the disheswill be served and their decoration.

This eating disorder consists of the presence of an exaggerated preoccupation with all these things, this does not mean that a person who is zealous about his food and how he serves it possesses this problem.

Treatment

In order to recover from the Gourmet Syndrome, the individual must go through psychotherapy, but this disease does not only bring consequences to the mind, so the follow-up with a nutritionist is also necessary. Since this syndrome is relatively new, the treatments are still being tested.

The treatment of this syndrome involves the approach of a multidisciplinary team, because it will need to re-educate the eating habits, especially if the patient is obese, and will also need to reprogram the mind to not worry excessively about food.

Night eating disorder

Have you ever heard of an eating disorder that affects the time when the individual eats? In the night eating disorder happens exactly that. The individual only feels appetite at night, which leads him to eat excessively at this time. Learn more below!

Main symptoms

Individuals who have the night eating disorder eat a lot during the night, at least a quarter of daily calories are consumed after dinner. This causes a picture of insomnia in carriers, due to the fact of eating a lot during the night. Waking up at least twice a week to eat excessively in the early morning is one of the signs of the night eating disorder.

Lack of appetite in the morning, strong desire to eat between dinner and bedtime, insomnia for at least four nights in a row and having a depressed mood that worsens during the night are also symptoms of this disorder.

Treatment

Treatment for night eating disorder is done through the use of antidepressants and also cognitive-behavioral therapy. In addition to these methods, a study found that some relaxing workouts also help change appetite from night to morning.

The various studies on antidepressants have found improvements in the nocturnal eating habits of people with these disorders, in addition to improving the quality of life and mood of these people. Medications with melatonin are also indicated in these cases.

Other types of eating disorders

Besides the disorders that were mentioned above, there are others that are not as well known by the general public, because they are rarer cases. Learn more about these disorders below!

Restrictive Avoidant Eating Disorder

TARE, is the acronym for Restrictive Avoidant Eating Disorder. This is a condition usually presented by children and is characterized by the refusal to eat certain foods due to color, smell, texture, temperature or taste. Each person has their own food preferences, especially in the early years of life.

However, as soon as this restriction prevents the consumption of essential nutrients for the organism, it is the moment to turn on the alert signal. Especially in the initial years, a nutritious diet is fundamental for the growth of the juveniles to occur in a proper way.

Rumination

From the moment an individual regurgitates the meal they have eaten and chews it again, this is a sign that they suffer from the eating disorder of rumination. There are some people who end up spitting the food out, others swallow it again. This process is repeated daily.

This is a condition that affects people of all ages, as it has been found in babies as well as people in their 20s or 30s. This disorder ends up generating some consequences for the body, due to the high flow of stomach acids.

Pregorexia

The concept of pregorexia is relatively new and refers to any eating disorder that occurs within the nine months of pregnancy. Whether anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, or any other. There are many women who are extremely concerned about the issue of weight, this ends up triggering some eating disorders.

Excessive dietary restrictions often lead to drastic consequences, such as miscarriage and the emergence of difficulties in the baby's development, for example.

Diabulimia

The concept of diabulimia is relatively new and was recently recognized by the scientific community. This eating disorder is characterized by the union of two conditions, bulimia and diabetes. As it is already popular knowledge, the treatment of diabetes requires the patient to take insulin.

Insulin is essential for controlling blood sugar levels. From the moment that the patient refuses to receive the necessary doses of insulin for fear of gaining weight due to the sugar, he is presenting a diabulimia condition.

Drunkorexia

Drunkorexia is a term that refers directly to drinks, because "drunk" in Portuguese means alcoholic beverage. Therefore, this eating disorder is characterized by the fact that the individual replaces food by alcoholic beverages. His goal is to lose weight and this causes him to consume several doses of drinks.

Alcohol is still used as an escape valve for anxiety and nervousness. In addition, sufferers of the eating disorder drunkorexia exhibit the same behaviors as individuals with bulimia or anorexia.

Fatorexia

Fatorexia is an eating disorder where the overweight individual sees himself as a healthy and thin person. This behavior of denial of his own condition is characteristic of this eating disorder. There is a certain distortion of the person's own image.

The treatment requires a lot of patience, so that the patient is convinced of his condition and how much his excess weight is compromising his health. It is essential that the patient receives support from family and friends in the recovery process.

What is the danger of the eating disorder?

The eating disorders are directly linked to psychology, because these problems originate in the mind of the individual. These pictures are motivated by diseases, traumas and other factors. It is important to always be alert to the signs that a person shows, because if the disorder is not identified in the beginning, the patient will suffer greatly from the consequences of deprivation or excessive consumption offood.

It is important to always emphasize that eating disorders are very serious conditions that require special care. The rehabilitation process also requires patience and willpower. These people's lives are at stake, so it is important to be alert to the smallest signs of these conditions.