BULIMIA NERVOSA is a condition characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, eating a large amount of food in a relatively short period of time, with a sense of lack of control, followed by emergency methods to deal with the consequences of the binge. These measures include purging by self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, excessive dieting or excessive exercise. Individuals suffering from bulimia nervosa often experience an intense fear of gaining weight and an obsessive relationship with food. Purging practices can have serious medical consequences. For more about bulimia, please see www.nwedbmed.com/whatisbulimia.
ANOREXIA NERVOSA is also a condition characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and often a distorted sense of one's body proportions and the consequences of eating in a "normal" fashion. Anorexic individuals deal with this fear by severely limiting intake, sometimes refusing to eat entirely, or exercising excessively relative to the amount of food they take in. Most lose an excessive amount of weight or for younger individuals, never achieve expected growth in weight. Although actually quite thin, individuals suffering from anorexia, often complain of feeling fat, and in fact, experience themselves in that way. Even more than seen with bulimia, anorexia nervosa can have drastic medical effects, all too often leading to disability or death. Thus, early vigorous treatment for anorexia nervosa is very important.
BINGE EATING DISORDER (BED) is a condition characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, eating a large amount of food in a relatively short period of time, with a sense of lack of control, but without the individual taking emergent measures to deal with the consequences of binge eating. Thus, with BED, the individual does not purge, ever. Often, but not always, individuals with BED gain weight; sometimes to significant amounts of overweight.
COMPULSIVE EATING is a condition characterized by a painful preoccupation with food that can dominate a person’s life. Often compulsive eating results from excessive dieting or a method of coping with painful feelings or relationships.
With any eating disorder, the problem can be so well hidden behind an outwardly normal lifestyle that often family and friends have no idea it exists. This lack of control over eating habits becomes a tightly held secret which causes embarrassment and painful isolation. Both women and men suffer from these problematic relationships with food. For more information on what causes eating disorders, go to www.nwedbmed.com/whatcauseseatingdisorders.
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