Eating Disorder - Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating

Eating Disorder - Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating
By Michael Russell

An eating disorder is characterized by a strange eating behavior and unhealthy beliefs about eating and weight. It is most commonly found in a young female during her adolescence. It can go undetected for years. You must recognize an eating disorder before the treatment process can begin. There are 3 main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by restricted eating or self-starvation. They have a fear of food because they are afraid of becoming overweight. A person with anorexia nervosa refuses to maintain a safe body weight. They try to reach a dangerously low weight by going on extreme diets, fasting and compulsively exercising. Some people even refuse to eat and put themselves in danger of starving to death. They view themselves as being fat even if they are actually emaciated or dangerously thin. They set unreasonably high standards for how their body should look. A person with anorexia nervosa will usually undergo bouts of depression and anxiety. They may also abuse illegal drugs or go through mood swings. Some women may go through three or more consecutive months without a menstrual period. A case of anorexia nervosa usually begins while you are dieting and after a stressful event has occurred. About 1 percent of the American population has anorexia nervosa. About 90 percent of these cases happen to females. Most of these people are Caucasians who come from middle-class and upper-class backgrounds. About 5 to 10 percent of the people who suffer from anorexia nervosa die because of starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide.

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of repeated bouts of binge eating. A person who is a binge eater has an uncontrollable urge to eat excessive amounts of food. This person will believe that he or she is overweight even when they are not. Some of these people induce vomiting, also known as purging, or use laxatives or diuretics to get rid of all of the food that was eaten during binging. Other people might fast and/or exercise excessively instead. People with bulimia nervosa might also abuse illegal drugs, feel depressed, or feel uneasy or fearful for no reason. The medical complications that accompany bulimia nervosa are not as dangerous as those that accompany anorexia nervosa. All of the binging and purging or fasting might result in dental and periodontal problems, heart problems, bleeding in the esophagus and ruptures in the lining of the stomach. About 2 percent of the American population suffers from bulimia nervosa. About 90 percent of these people are female. Most of these people are Caucasians from middle-class and upper-class backgrounds. However, it is getting more common among non-Caucasian groups. Bulimia nervosa occurs mainly to vulnerable people who have already suffered through a traumatizing event.

No one had heard of binge eating disorder until the term was first introduced to the public in 1992. Binge eating disorder consists of repeated bouts of overeating. A person with this disorder has an irresistible need to eat. Eating is usually done in private. After the eating is done, this person usually feels very guilty or remorseful. However, unlike bulimia nervosa, there is no purging, fasting, excessive exercising, or use of laxatives or diuretics. About 3 percent of Americans suffer from the binge eating disorder. Most people with this disorder are adults. It may surprise some people to know that just as many females as males are afflicted with it and it is also prevalent across all ethnic groups. You do not have to be overweight to be diagnosed with this disorder. In spite of this, studies indicate that 40 percent of obese people have the binge eating disorder. These people are at a higher risk for medical complications because of further weight gain. Binge eaters who are also obese might also abuse illegal drugs, suffer from depression, lack self-confidence, or feel that his or her body does not measure up to the standards of modern society. Medical researchers have yet to determine the cause of this eating disorder.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Eating Disorders

April 15, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating, Binge Eating Disorder

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Stop Comfort Eating

How to Stop Comfort Eating - Hypnotherapy Cure For Eating Problems
By J J Seymour

If you suffer from the familiar problem of needing to stop comfort eating, you are definitely not alone. While it may have begun with an apple women, and some men, have been engaging in comfort eating activities for thousands of years. So, what is it? Comfort eating is eating at times when you feel stressed, depressed, unnerved, anxious, excited, sad, and the list could go on and on. The problem lies in the fact that most people have far too many comfort eating crises for the sakes of their waist lines.

Why the Huge Rush to Stop Comfort Eating?

Comfort eating by itself is no big deal when enjoyed in moderation. The problem is that most people eat the wrong foods and have far too many times when they need these comfort foods that are usually high in sugar, fat, and/or calories. Unfortunately, comfort foods are quite often high in all three of these things. While they may bring about the temporary and all too brief high or feelings of relief that you are looking for, they also leave behind jeans that are far too tight and other problems related to a growing waistline.

More Problems With Comfort Eating

Other problems that go along with the need to eat for the sake of relief is that you generally tend to eat too much of the wrong foods and then you have the problem of guilt on top of the depression that drove you to turn to comfort eating to begin with. If you stop comfort eating all together you can break the cycle of eating for depression, overeating, feeling guilt, and beginning again.

Overeating Help Through Hypnotherapy

Though hypnotherapy in one form or another has been around for centuries it is only recently getting the credit it deserves as an effective form of treatment for all manner of emotional, medical, and physical maladies. NLP and hypnotherapy alone are powerful tools to help you stop comfort eating. When you combine them they will have a profound impact and give overeating help that even you might not have dared to dream possible.

But, how does it work? NLP, or neuro-linguistic programming works by training your mind to place less importance on those foods that you generally turn to when you need comfort. By robbing them of their importance and/or power over you, the mind leaves you free to pursue healthier choices or not to eat for the sake of depression at all.

Hypnotherapy can be used in conjunction with NLP in order to imitate the feelings of relief and/or elation that are often accompanied by consuming the various foods you eat for comfort. It doesn’t matter why, how long, when it first happened, or how often if happens; if you need help to stop comfort eating or overeating help in general there are many excellent sources for help. Some of the best though, are through NLP, hypnosis, and hypnotherapy.

J J Seymour is a writer with Self Help Recordings. Hypnotherapy and NLP can be very useful help to Stop Comfort Eating - one good source of experienced hypnotherapists and NLP practitioners is Just Be Well. This organization has experienced professionals throughout the UK in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, East Anglia, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Surrey, Sussex and Scotland. You will also find links to related practitioners for treatment for overeating in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, for Dublin, Ireland, and for Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in Australia. If you are unable to visit a practitioner in person you may well benefit from a good and guaranteed self hypnosis recording such as Overeating Help, by experienced hypnotherapist Debbie Williams.

April 5, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating

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Eating Disorder - Binge Eating

Eating Disorder - Binge Eating
By Michael Russell

Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder in which the sufferer consumes food, unusually large amounts of food, on a regular basis in a brief period of time, hungry or not and continues to eat until they feel rather uncomfortable. These bouts are usually followed by feelings of guilt. Here the sufferer does not induce purging after binging unlike in the case of bulimia. This eating disorder is a problem, which affects both men and women but it is more common in women. This unhealthy habit of overeating tends to develop during childhood.

What are the possible causes of binge eating disorder?

It is still difficult to pin point the exact cause or causes of this disorder. However, the following may be some of the causes of this eating disorder:

Depression - No one actually knows for sure if depression is a cause or an effect of binge eating disorder but it has been noted that about fifty percent of the individuals with this disorder have a history of depression or are depressed. This depression may be even totally unrelated.

Dieting - It is still not clear if dieting is a cause of binge eating. Here too, about fifty percent of the sufferers of binge eating disorder had episodes of binging before they started to diet. Dieting may actually worsen their condition.

Genetics - Many researchers have come to the conclusion that genes may in some way be involved as it was found that many members of the same family suffered from this disorder.

Unable to cope - Studies have shown that some individuals who cannot handle their emotions like sadness, anger, stress etc and even people who have a low self esteem often turn to binge eating in order to cope better. They binge eat in order to hide from these various emotions.

Some of the signs and symptoms of binge eating disorder are:

. They gain weight and subsequently become obese,

. They eat late at night or when not hungry,

. They suffer from fluctuations in weight,

. They consume food until they feel uncomfortably full,

. They suffer from an anxious and depressed mood,

. They eat within any two hour period a quantity of food bigger than a non sufferer would eat in the same period of time and feeling a lack of control over the whole episode,

. They have low self-esteem,

. They have no desire for sex,

. Their food is eaten rapidly without chewing,

. They hide food,

. They hoard food,

. They try out various diets,

. They believe that life will be much better if they lose weight,

. If there is a disappointment in their life or they feel stressed or unhappy they try to cope with the various situations by consuming food,

. They avoid social function in which food will be present,

. They eat food when not hungry,

. They feel ashamed and guilty about their over their overeating,

. They eat alone or in secret as they feel embarrassed as to the enormous quantity they consume,

. They tend to have suicidal thoughts,

Some of the complications that can arise as a result of binge eating are:

High blood pressure, depression, anxiety, mood swings, shortness of breath, irregular periods, cancers, type 2 diabetes, upper respiratory problems, high cholesterol levels, stress, deterioration of bones, stroke, skin problems, suicidal tendencies, pregnancy complications, insomnia, gall bladder, liver and kidney disease, arthritis, decrease in mobility, obesity, heart disease, cardiac arrest and death.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Eating Disorders

April 1, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating, Binge Eating Disorder

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