Anorexia

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Anorexia or Anorexia Nervosa to give it its full name, is a potentially fatal eating disorder effecting millions of people throughout the world. People suffering from the condition believe they are overweight and so begin to eat less and less. However, the real problem of the disorder is an inability of the sufferer to accept they are thin. Even when they are dangerously underweight, in their minds they will still be fat and therefore they will continue to starve themselves. This is why anorexia proves fatal to thousands of people each year.

What causes anorexia?

The exact cause of anorexia is still unknown. However, many factors are believed to trigger the disorder. Firstly, individuals may have a genetic predisposition for anorexia. Many anorexics also have family members who have suffered from the disorder. Major emotional or physical life events may also lead to the development of the disorder. For example the death of a close relative or the divorce of the individual's parents.

Experts also believe anorexia may be caused by a desire for control. Young women in particular may feel powerless in their lives with events often happening outside of their control. Anorexia may provide this sense of power they so desperately need.

The final potential cause of the disorder is the preoccupations of society with thinness. Every magazine, movie and television program teaches us that slim is best. The slim girl is always the most popular and she invariably gets the guy. On a vulnerable teenage mind, this can have a dramatic effect and lead to dramatic actions.

Is is mainly women who suffer from anorexia?

Although anorexia effects both sexes, almost 95% of sufferers are women and the majority of those are teenage girls. Some studies report that over a quarter of women have had some form of anorexia or bulemia before they reach their twenties.

What is the difference between anorexia and bulemia?

The main difference involve an individual's eating behavior and as a result their actual weight. Where as anorexics will gradually lose weight, bulemics usually maintain a healthy weight. They don't starve themselves in the same way as people with anorexia. Bulimics eat large quantities of food (binging) and the induce vomiting to get rid rid of it (purging). Although anorexics can display this behavior, their typical tendency is to simply stop eating as much as they used to.

How common is anorexia?

Many cases of anorexia are not reported. Sometimes people with a mild form of the condition successfully beat it themselves. In other instances families and friends help a sufferer overcome anorexia without profession help. As far as we know approximately 1% of all teenage girls develop anorexia nervosa and in the UK somewhere between five hundred thousand and one million people suffer from the condition each year.

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