Anorexia is a serious and potentially
life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive
weight loss. Even though people with this illness are very skinny, they are convinced
they are fat and have an intense fear of gaining weight.
All she ever wanted
was to look like those beautiful and perfect models in the fashion magazines...
but what happend to her? She had become the living death. Her starved body ached
all the time and she felt constantly weak. Her skin bruised and her muscles hurt.
Her period stopped, her hair fell out, her skin was dry and her face was pale...
Now, is that beautiful? The truth is, there is nothing glamorous nor beautiful
about a starving person.
It is common that someone suffering
with anorexia has low self-esteem which can quickly lead to a negative body image
of oneself. An anorexic may see another person and think "I wish I was as skinny
as her" and in reality, may actually be thinner. They don't see themselves as
thin and have an inaccurate perception of their body and cannot see their own
good traits, especially in comparison to others, because of the low self-esteem
they have of themselves. A person with anorexia can look in the mirror and actually
see a fat person.
Some sufferers with an eating disorder assume
there is something wrong with their bodies when they cannot fit into some "standard"
size and others will reject a pair of jeans simply because they won't wear a particular
size.
Anorexia is an extremely serious disease, as
it is life-threatening. Fortunately, people with this eating disorder can get
well, can learn to eat normally again and can learn to respect and love themselves
for whom they are. Anorexia involves the mind and the body, so psychological and
medical help (provided from such as health doctors, psychologists, clinical social
workers, dietitians) is beneficial and necessary in most cases. In extreme cases
of anorexia, hospitalization is required for treatment. It is very unlikley for
sufferers from anorexia to be able to successfully get out of the cycle without
professional help.
"I finally broke down and admitted to myself that I had
a problem. Being anorexic is exhausting, mentally and physically. My body was
starving and eating itself. Anorexia was overtaking my life and I hated it."
"When
I look at pictures of me from then I think: I looked so sick and disgusting!"
Eating disorders can be treated and a healthy weight restored.
The sooner these disorders are diagnosed and treated, the better the outcomes
are likely to be. Because of their complexity, eating disorders require a comprehensive
treatment plan involving medical care and monitoring, psychosocial interventions,
nutritional counseling and, when appropriate, medication management. At the time
of diagnosis, the clinician must determine whether the person is in immediate
danger and requires hospitalization.
Treatment of anorexia calls for
a specific program that involves three main phases: (1) restoring weight lost
to severe dieting and purging; (2) treating psychological disturbances such as
distortion of body image, low self-esteem, and interpersonal conflicts; and (3)
achieving long-term remission and rehabilitation, or full recovery. Early diagnosis
and treatment increases the treatment success rate. Use of psychotropic medication
in people with anorexia should be considered only after weight gain has been established.
Certain selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been shown to be
helpful for weight maintenance and for resolving mood and anxiety symptoms associated
with anorexia.
The acute management of severe weight loss is usually provided
in an inpatient hospital setting, where feeding plans address the person's medical
and nutritional needs. In some cases, intravenous feeding is recommended. Once
malnutrition has been corrected and weight gain has begun, psychotherapy (often
cognitive-behavioral or interpersonal psychotherapy) can help people with anorexia
overcome low self-esteem and address distorted thought and behavior patterns.
Families are sometimes included in the therapeutic process.
People with
eating disorders often do not recognize or admit that they are ill. As a result,
they may strongly resist getting and staying in treatment. Family members or other
trusted individuals can be helpful in ensuring that the person with an eating
disorder receives needed care and rehabilitation. For some people, treatment may
be long term.
The
number of people with eating disorders is dramatically rising. An estimated ten
percent of people with anorexia are males. Five to ten percent of those suffering
from anorexia may die as a result of suicide, from depression caused by the illness,
malnutrition, or heart problems.
Sufferers from eating disorders (be it anorexia, bulimia
or any other disorder) most likley experience difficulties during their pregnancy
and put their lifes and the life of their baby in danger. They have higher rates
of miscarriages and their baby may be born prematurely which puts them at risk
for many medical problems. It is important for all pregnant women to receive proper
prenatal care and have regular pre-natal visits. In addition, an enrollment in
a prenatal exercise class is a good idea.
For more detailed information
on eating disorders and pregnancy - please click here.
Monika recovered from a ten year battle
with anorexia and now works to help others who suffer with eating disorders. Lindsey
recovered from bulimia in the 1970's and has been involved with eating disorder
education along with her husband Leigh Cohn who supported her through her recovery.
Anorexia Nervosa: A Guide to Recovery
is meant to be a compassionate, understanding companion on the journey through
recovery. It offers a combination of factual information, the author's own story
of recovery from a ten year battle with anorexia, insights from others who have
recovered, and practical suggestions for recovery and staying committed. There
is also a special section for parents and loved ones.
Anorexic - The Incredible True Story
Of A Young Girl's Journey To Hell And Back by Anna Paterson
Publisher:
Westworld International Ltd Publication Date: September 28, 2000 ISBN:
0-952-921-529
An autobiographical account
of Anna Paterson’s 14 year struggle with anorexia, beginning with her experiences
of childhood abuse and ending with her recovery.
For more
information about Anna Paterson, her struggles with anorexia and her recovery,
please go to www.annapaterson.com.
Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self by
Lori Gottlieb
A true autobiography of a young anorexic girl.
Publisher: Berkley Trade Publication Date: April 01, 2001 ISBN:
0-425-178-900
When Lori Gottlieb was 11
years old, she did something girls that age often do: She started a diary. And
like far too many other 11-year-old girls, she also began starving herself. The
book chronicles her transformation from a bright, healthy kid into a hospital
patient on the verge of death, and it illustrates how a young girl can become
convinced that anorexia is the answer to her preadolescent confusion.
Review from a former anorexic
who read this book:
This honest autobiography has truly touched and
inspired me. I found it interesting to see that I was not the only one who went
through hell. I would advise any young woman to read this book, it will give you
something to think about.
How to Recover from ANOREXIA
and Other Eating Disorders by Melinda Hutchings & Chris Thornton
Step-by-step
guide to recovery by a woman who suffered from anorexia and has since made a full
recovery.
ISBN: 0-868-067-067
A practical step-by-step guide through the process of recovery from
the devastating illness of anorexia and related eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa
is a mysterious illness and as a result there is insufficient information about
recovery. This book responds to that lack, exploring the medical, clinical, psychological
and emotional nature of the illness and offering practical solutions for each
aspect. It contains a real-life account of author Melinda Hutchings’ own
personal battle and eventual recovery, together with
personal descriptions by her family – mother,
father, two sisters and brother – of their reactions and how they coped with the
serious illness of a loved one. This section in particular provides invaluable
assistance for friends, family and carers. The step-by-step process is then described
in detail, backed up by many case histories, with clinical psychologist Chris
Thornton providing the clinical background. Essential reading for sufferers and
for those who love and care about them, this book’s message is one of inspiration
and hope with the end-goal of full recovery.
It's
the true story of victory over a disease that is killing America's youth.
Publisher:
W.Publishing Group Publication Date: April 16, 2003 ISBN: 0-849-944-058
Morgan Menzie takes readers through a harrowing but ultimately
hopeful and inspiring account of her eating disorder. Her amazing story is told
through the journals she kept during her daily struggle with this addiction and
disease. Her triumphs and tragedies all unfold together in this beautiful story
of God's grace.
Included: daily eating schedule, journal entries,
prayers to God, poems, and what she wished she knew at the time.
Review from a former anorexic
who read this book:
I read "Diary of An Anorexic Girl" about
a year ago and found it very helpful for my own anorexia. It is an honest book
and I highly recommend it to all teenage girls, especially to those "wannabe"
anorexics, and family and friends who truly want to understand what is going on
in an anorexic.
How
My Child Recovered Through Family-Based Treatment And Yours Can Too!
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Publication Date: December 15, 2004 ISBN: 0-071-445-587
For parents of a child with an eating disorder,
the most crucial question is "What do we do now?".In this informative
book, Laura Collins shares how she and her husband discovered the answer for themselves--and
most significantly--for their anorexic fourteen-year-old-daughter. It is a chronicle
of how they applied a home-based treatment method known as "the Maudsley approach,"
a nontraditional but highly effective way to treat a disease that is well known
but largely misunderstood.
This book is a source of hope and valuable
information for parents of children with eating disorders. This is the first popular
book on an increasingly popular approach to curing eating disorders and a must-read!
It includes practical information and guidance for parents of children with eating
disorders.
Wasted - A Memoir Of Anorexia And Bulimia
by Marya Hornbacher
A brutaly honest autobiography of
an eating disorderderd girl.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publication
Date: January 15, 1999 ISBN: 0-060-930-934
At
the age of five, she returned home from ballet class one day, put on a enormous
sweater, curled up on her bed, and cried--because she thought she was fat. By
age nine she was secretly bulimic, throwing up at home after school. She added
anorexia to her repetoire a few years later and took great pride in her ability
to starve. Marya's story gathers intensity with each passing year. She sustained
both anorexia and bulimia through five lengthy hospitalizations, endless therapy,
the loss of family, friends, jobs, and, ultimately, any sense of what it means
to be "normal." Wasted is the story of one woman's travels to the darker side
of reality, and her decision to find her way back again--on her own terms.
Personal Review:
This is the brutally honest story
of a girl with an extreme form of anorexia and bulimia. I read "Wasted"
a couple of years ago, when my eating disorder was at its worst point. Her story
has helped me a lot with my own bulimia and it gave me hope that a woman with
a much more extreme eating disorder was able to survive the many battles she fought.
This book is definitely a must read for any girl and woman.
Slim to None - A Journey Through the Wasteland of
AnorexiaTreatment by Jennifer Hendricks
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Publication Date: January 24, 2003 ISBN: 0-071-410-694
A young woman's fatal battle with anorexia, in her own
words In the tradition of Go Ask Alice, Prozac Nation , and Girl Interrupted ,
Slim to None grants readers precious access to the emotional and psychological
underpinnings of its author. Step-by-step, readers follow Jenny's long journey
through a "wasteland" of failed treatments and therapies, false hope, and abuse
by the mental health system that kept her captive most of her life. Although this
disease has been at the forefront of public awareness for years, anorexia continues
to claim more victims than any other mental illness. Slim to None reveals the
glaring inadequacy of the mental health system to treat and fully understand this
disease.
The first journal of an anorexic to be published
posthumously, the book discloses the innermost thoughts, fears, and hopes
of a young girl stricken and fighting to recover. Jenny Hendricks painstakingly
recorded her experiences as she suffered from and eventually succumbed to this
eating disorder. With candor, she recounts being shipped from one doctor to another
and subjected to widely varying treatments--all of which ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Her father, Gordon Hendricks, fills in this compelling narrative with his own
memories of his daughter's struggle.
"It took three weeks for my body to shut
down. When I was close to the end, I couldn't see very well and could talk only
in hoarse whispers because my mouth was so dry. I slept most of the time. But
I didn't feel sick. I felt at peace, finally emptied of all the mind and body
filth. No more terrifying flashbacks. No more disgust with my body . . . with
me. Nothing hurt. I wasn't even hungry. And I didn't have to worry about how guilty
I feel when I eat and throw up, and even worse, how anguished I feel when I eat
and don't throw up." --Jenny Hendricks, age twenty-five
"This morning I feel rested-ready to face the day…
I will beat this thing."
Millions of girls struggle
with eating disorders. And most American women are unhappy with their bodies.
Christie Pettit was one of them. Christie started college as a healthy, competitive
athlete. But soon her perfectionism drove her to take fitness to the extreme.
As she became more and more obsessed with what she ate and how much she exercised,
thoughts about food and working out controlled her mind, her habits, and even
her relationships. Christie was finally forced to admit that she was losing her
battle with her own body. She was starving-but she didn't know it.
Empty recounts Christie's story through
her personal journals, showing you how she turned to the Bible and counseling
to find the strength and encouragement to overcome anorexia. If you or someone
you know might be struggling with anorexia, you'll find hope and great advice
in Empty. Christie Pettit is a teen counselor specializing in eating disorder
recovery. She enjoys traveling with family and loves outdoor adventures-hiking,
biking, river rafting, backpacking, snow skiing, fly fishing, golf, tennis, snorkeling,
water skiing, you name it! Christie lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Life Without ED - How One Woman Declared
Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too by Jenni Schaefer
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Publication Date: December 26, 2003 ISBN: 0-071-422-986
Jenni had been in an abusive relationship with Ed for
far too long. Ed's name comes from the initials E.D. - as in eating disorder.
He controlled Jenni’s life, distorted her self-image, and tried to physically
harm her throughout their long affair. Then Jenni met psychotherapist and author
Thom Rutledge. He taught her how to treat her eating disorder as a relationship,
not a condition. By thinking of her eating disorder as a unique personality separate
from her own, Jenni was able to break up with Ed once and for all.
Inspiring, compassionate, and filled with
practical exercises to help you break up with your own personal E.D., Life Without
Ed provides new hope for the disorders that plague millions of women and young
girls. Beginning with Jenni’s “divorce” from Ed, this supportive, lifesaving book
combines a patient’s insights and experiences with a therapist’s prescriptions
for success to help you live a healthier, happier life without Ed.
Publisher: Haworth Press Publication
Date: August 1, 1996 ISBN: 1-560-238-836
It is the autobiographical account of a
young man's ongoing struggle with anorexia. Michael Krasnow has had anorexia since
1984, and he chronicles his daily struggles, feelings, and experiences in this
book. He writes in a relaxed, easygoing manner that makes the book appealing to
all readers. While ignoring statistics and not pretending to be an expert on the
disorder, Michael simply tells readers what his life is like and how anorexia
has effected - even controlled - it.
Anorexia
- a Game of Control! - by Wilma Watson - Low self-esteem produces a
game of control. It causes a person to suffer in silence – suffering that can
lead to anorexia.
The Battle On Anorexia,
What To Do To Win - by Michael Sampson - With "being thin or sexy no
matter what the cost", a very popular battle cry of most women of all age groups
today. It's no wonder anorexia or anorexia nervosa...
What
People With Anorexia Nervosa Need to Know About Osteoporosis - by The National
Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - Anorexia nervosa
has significant physical consequences. Affected individuals can experience nutritional
and hormonal problems that negatively impact bone density. Low body weight in
...
You Don't Have to Be Eating Disordered
to be Thin - by Abigail H. Natenshon - Margaret, an emaciated 13-year-old
patient recently sat in my office and stated she wants to be thin, despite what
her doctor and parents tell her about how she has to gain weight. “I want to be
thin and I will be thin,” she exclaimed.
Anorexia
Nervosa - Myths, Causes, Correction - by Abigail H. Natenshon - Who
gets Anorexia? Why do people develop Anorexia? Are parents responsible for causing
Anorexia? What are the myths and misconceptions connected with Anorexia? How can
you recognize Anorexia when you see it?
People
With Anorexia and Anorexia Nervosa - by Christian N. Anorexia Nervosa
is a severe and often life-threatening eating disorder defined by a rejection
to sustain minimal body weight of an individual's normal weight. People with ...
Dieting
to Death- by Cass Hope - It has been 15 years since I was diagnosed
with Bulimia Nervosa and I have been recovered for 12 years. To this day if I
head for the washroom after a meal my mother ...
Does
Someone You Care About Have Anorexia? - by Charles Kassotis - Anorexia
is an eating disorder that develops when someone stops eating enough food for
adequate nutrition. It can happen slowly, over several months or even years ,...
Anorexia Nervosa Alert
- Is Your Daughter Dying To Be Thin? - by S.A. Smith - Anorexia
nervosa is a serious medical disorder that is statistically most prevalent in
the adolescent teenage years of young women. It is estimated that 7% of the population
...
Feeling Fat (or
Thin) May Be a Trick of the Mind - by Rita Jenkins - Whether you feel
fat, thin or something in between has little to do with the reality of the situation,
suggests a new study led by the University College London (UCL) and published
in ...
Anorexia - A Deadly
Fashion - by Fiona Condron - The typical celebrity figure has become
a thing of envy among many women - but is our admiration obscuring something more
sinister? Are we really just helping to make ...
Becoming
Anorexic: Learning to Starve on the Internet - by Deborah Wilson -
Young women with anorexia are gathering on what are called pro ana or pro anorexia
websites. Girls who often have nothing in common except the desire to be thin
visit sites that ...
Anorexia
Nervosa and Signs Of Anorexia - by Christian N. Anorexia nervosa
is an eating disorder affecting young girls or women. A characteristic of anorexia
nervosa is an obsession with thinness. Drastic weight loss with fear of weight
gain ...
Ana-Mia and the Mature
Woman - by Jeannine Schenewerk Young women are not the only ones
who may succumb to eating disorders. Anorexia and Bulimia are stretching out skeletal
hands for the lives of mature women, as well.
The
Link Between Anorexia and Bulimia- by Thomas Morva Young women
and men sometimes starve themselves. It doesn’t matter how thin they may be— in
their internal mirror, they are fat. Or they may so afraid of gaining ...
Child
Chats on the Internet Focus on Food and Weight - by Abigail H. Natenshon
- Certainly the most controversial and timely chat places for kids these days
are the pro-anorexic web sites, which speak to kids who are hungry for information,
identity, and a ...
Pro
Ana Websites - On the subject of Pro-Anorexic Web Sites - by Abigail
H. Natenshon - Pro-Anorexic web sites put our young people at risk for serious
health disorders. "Just as they would protect their children from pornography
and ... ...
