10 Myths About Anorexia - Self-development

Today, anorexia is becoming the topic of many articles and television programs. This suggests that more and more people are faced with this complex and serious disease. However, there is still very little knowledge in our society about anorexia, about the methods of its treatment and about the reasons that cause it

When a family member's desire to lose weight develops into an extreme, most often the relatives do not understand what is happening, do not know where to go and whether it is necessary to do it at all. In the minds of the majority, anorexia is when a person already weighs 35 kg and is on the verge of life and death. And only in this case, close people begin to raise the alarm. Up to this point, they have been trying for a long time to cope with the problem on their own, that is, they convince, persuade, control.

There are many myths and biases around anorexia, because of which help is too late or not provided at all, people lose the chances of a successful recovery

Major myths

1. Anorexia is simply a strong desire to lose weight

Indeed, from the side of anorexia it looks like this - a person really wants to lose weight and bring his body to an ideal state, but at the same time he cannot stop in time. This is what the majority thinks and thinks that this is the whole problem. In fact, anorexia is a severe eating disorder.

This is a variant of food addiction, which is not much different from drug addiction and alcoholism

We all know how hard it is to treat an alcoholic or drug addict. But treating anorexic is twice as difficult as nutrition is a basic function of the body. If this function is violated, then recovery is a very difficult and time-consuming process. The mortality rate for anorexia is very high, this figure reaches 40% even in the case of complete and comprehensive treatment.

2. It is enough to explain to anorexics that he is already too thin and it is time to stop

In fact, everyone who has ever encountered cases of anorexia or seen them on TV knows that such conversations usually lead to nothing. A person with anorexia is always not thin enough for himself. At the same time, the true need of an anorexic is not at all to be thin.

The first and basic need of such a person is control: weight, body shape, nutrition. This need for control grows out of a lot of anxiety that cannot be dealt with

The reasons for this anxiety can be completely different, but most often there are some psychological trauma or problems behind it. Every anorexic patient is scared to lose control, to stop seeing at least a few grams less on the scales every day than yesterday. At the same time, the very fact of losing weight already fades into the background and does not really matter. Their own appearance quickly ceases to interest these people.

3. The causes of anorexia - in unsuccessful love

We often hear stories that a teenage girl fell in love with a boy, he rejected her, she thought it was because she was fat, and decided to lose weight. In fact, such situations are simply a catalyst for the onset of the active phase of this disease. All people in their lives experience unrequited love or rejection, but not everyone after that begins to get sick with anorexia.

An eating disorder propensity occurs much earlier than a possible relationship begins. For rejection to cause such severe stress, a teenager must already have low enough self-esteem. He already felt dissatisfaction with himself, deep inner loneliness and a very great unmet need for acceptance. Therefore, such a teenager will always look for reasons in himself - in the fact that he is not good enough or not beautiful enough, that he needs to somehow change himself in order to please others.

The stronger these beliefs, the more sacrifices he will make in order to earn interest in himself. And most often such beliefs are acquired precisely in the family, where parents are demanding, emotionally cold and unable to give the child unconditional acceptance and love.

4. Someone told anorexic that he was fat, and therefore he began to lose weight

People with anorexia have not always been overweight in the past. The likelihood of illness is completely independent of the person's primary weight. With a healthy attitude to your body, even if excess weight is present, you can safely lose it, and this will not lead to illness. However, people prone to eating disorders do not have a healthy relationship with their bodies.

For them, the body is often not a part of themselves, but a secondary instrument, an object within which they are forced to live. They feel disgust, irritation and dissatisfaction with their bodies, regardless of the presence of excess weight.

Such an attitude is formed in a child, for example, if he is physically punished, or his bodily boundaries are not respected, or there is a cult of a beautiful body in the family. Excessive demands on the body are also among those who are involved in sports in which the slightest weight gain is not allowed. You can also add dancing and modeling business.

5. Successful people don't suffer from anorexia

If we listen to the stories of relatives of patients with anorexia, then most often we will hear the story that the child has always been problem-free, diligent and demanding of himself, constantly striving to be the best. Often such people studied very well at school, graduated with medals, easily entered college. In addition to their studies, they had many other activities and achievements.

It is these children and adolescents who are at risk of developing eating disorders. This is because they strive to look perfect and be the best at everything. It is perfectionists who often become successful, but at the same time not at all happy. They are able to do everything "perfectly", but at the same time they are never satisfied with themselves.

For himself, they still remain not good enough, because "could have been done even better." For such children, their "goodness" is not themselves, but what they do.

6. If a person gained weight, he recovered

Since anorexia is a type of food addiction, it is necessary to understand that it is an incurable, progressive, recurrent and fatal disease. Recurrent means that it can occur over and over again, and most often relapses occur in a person under stress. At the same time, weight gain in itself, especially when in the clinic, does not at all mean that a person is recovering.

Very often, patients agree to be treated in a hospital and even gain weight there simply so that relatives leave them alone

They bide their time, behave well, to be released and everyone to calm down. After the passions subside, the anorexic often returns to obsessive weight loss and control of eating behavior. A real sign of recovery can be, first of all, a change in attitude towards oneself and one's body. This is achieved only through long-term psychotherapy.

7. If anorexics say they are aware of the problem, they are telling the truth

Anorexic, like any addict, will do everything to maintain the addicted behavior. He will lie and tell you what you want to hear. Anorexic people often lie to their loved ones that they have eaten, while they can induce vomiting or take a laxative.

The true motivation for recovery can only be diagnosed by a professional psychologist who knows how to work with such cases and has a special education for this

In addition, anorexia often turns into a severe mental disorder, which is associated not only with eating disorders, but also with impaired perception of one's body. The average person is unlikely to be able to determine the degree of personality disorders and the chances of recovery.

At the same time, it is completely useless to try to control the nutrition of a person with anorexia. If relatives do this, they only spoil the relationship with the patient and destroy trust, forcing the anorexic to lie and hide their actions.

8. Anorexia is treated by a dietitian

The nutritionist is not concerned with the treatment of eating disorders; he is concerned with the regulation of proper nutrition. Any anorexic knows about proper nutrition almost more than all nutritionists put together. Comprehensive treatment of the disease should be carried out by a psychiatrist and psychologist.

Psychotherapy is the first and necessary condition for successful treatment, because, first of all, anorexia is a psychological disorder

Family psychotherapy with the participation of close relatives, primarily parents, is also mandatory. If parents refuse family therapy, the chances of a cure are greatly reduced. Anorexia, a subtype of addiction, is also a symptom of dysfunction in the family system and a sign of unhealthy family relationships.

9. Anorexia begins when there is already a severe underweight

Extreme exhaustion is the last phase of the disease. The onset of an eating disorder can go unnoticed by loved ones. For a long time, they may not notice anything. It is much more effective to seek help from a psychologist when only the child's psychological problems become noticeable.

For example, when any of these signs appear: withdrawal, symptoms of depression, problems in communication and socialization, high demands on yourself, inability to forgive yourself for mistakes and failures, dissatisfaction with yourself, obsessive preoccupation with appearance, inability to talk about your feelings and experiences, focus on the topic nutrition. In this case, the chances are high that the development of a possible severe disorder can be prevented.

10. Only women get anorexia

This is one of the most common misconceptions. In fact, men also suffer from anorexia, albeit to a lesser extent. Men with such psychological problems are much more likely to go into alcoholism and drug addiction, but the likelihood of developing eating disorders is not excluded. In addition, in men, another option is much more common - compulsive overeating, which leads to severe forms of obesity and also requires complex treatment.

Any eating disorder is a complex complex disease that is dangerous for the psyche and life. It requires close attention and long-term treatment. Timely seeking help determines the chances of a successful long-term remission.