Friday, November 28, 2008

Symptoms of Eating Disorders.

Well, for starters, the most obvious symptom is one's insecurities as far as their weight. This should be fairly easy for you to observe -- have you been depriving yourself of food lately simply because you feel you need to lose weight? Most people with eating disorders will keep away from food for even days, simply for the fact that they feel they need to lose weight fast and they think that doing so is their only option, without even being aware of their condition. However, you should never listen to others, especially teenagers. They see a fairly skinny person and they automatically underestimate their weight, connecting it with some eating disorder. As far as other symptoms go, what kind of eating disorder are you referring to? There is a variety of eating disorders out there, including Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Athletica, etc., and each and every one of them is characterized by different symptoms. The best way to find out whether or not you have an eating disorder, however, is to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist will give you an evaluation that is actually legit, unlike self-diagnosing, and if he does in fact diagnose you with an eating disorder, he will most likely refer you to a therapist for therapy sessions that could definitely help you out with your condition.

1) THE MOST IMPORTANT SYMPTOM : You don't like the way you look and would like to lose more weight.
2) You're feeling tired more often and are less enthusiastic about activities you once enjoyed.
3) Any way to achieve weight loss doesn't seem ridiculous, e.g. laxatives or purging.
4) You generally feel unhappier, and to some extent 'empty'.
5) You may begin calorie counting, and perhaps obsessively running your daily food intake through your head or planning it in advance.
6) Comparison with other women's bodies becomes ritual, you may find yourself analyzing the shapes of your friends and willing yourself to be smaller. Consequently looking like a perv, jokes.
Those are just general observations from me as I have an eating disorder. Obviously if you're anorexic you'll have lost hair, feel the cold adn have no energy whatsoever. If you bulimic you'll want to throw up everything that you consume or take a box of laxatives to flush it out. And lastly if you're a binge eater you'll go through periods of starvation then binging.
With every eating disorder there's an underlying issue, so if you're sure you're sick see someone fast as people suffer with these diseases for years upon years, and the longer you leave it the harder it is to beat.

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