Eating Disorders

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Anorexia

Anorexia is an eating disorder. What you do is you don't eat at all because you may think that you are big when really you are very small. When people have this disorder it is very hard for them to try and stop from doing this. Even though people the people that do have this disorder dont eat they still drink a lot, so that would mean that there body is most of the time full if liquid. When a girl has anorexia she alwauys thinks that she is fat even though she is not. She will be so fixed in this belief that it seems like she is always being stubborn, or stupid for what she is doing. Also when a girl has this disorder she always thinks that she has to be the thinnest person in the world. She does this because she thinks its the only way she can survive, she feels as if she is a knife on the edge, that shes too fat and she has to face the world with this problem because she thinks thats what its like and thats what people are thinking when they see her. But what girls need to know if you become to thin you may die. That being in the world is better than trying to impress everyone in it. Only 30% - 40% of people who have anorexia ever recover from it. Men can get anorexia just as well as men, but it's more common in women because society believes that men should be more powerful, so men try to hide it more when they have it. Every four women = one man with anorexia.

Signs and Symptoms

• Noticeable weight loss
• Becoming withdrawn
• Excessive exercise
• Fatigue
• Always being cold
• Muscle weakness
• Obsession with food, calories, recipes
• Excuses for not eating meals (ie. ate earlier, not feeling well)
• Unusual eating habits (ie. cutting food into tiny pieces, picking at food)
• Noticeable discomfort around food
• Complaining of being "too fat", even when thin
• Cooking for others, but not eating themselves
• Restricting food choices to only diet foods
• Guilt or shame about eating
• Depression, irritability, mood swings
• Evidence of vomiting, laxative abuse, diet pills or diuretics to control weight
• Irregular menstruation
• Amenorrhea(loss of menstruation)
• Wearing baggy clothes to hide weight loss
• Frequently checking weight on scale
• Fainting spells and dizziness
• Difficulty eating in public
• Very secretive about eating patterns
• Pale complexion (almost a pasty look)
• Headaches
• Perfectionistic attitude
• Feelings of self worth determined by what is or is not eaten
• No known physical illness that would explain weight loss

Physical/Medical Complications

• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Amenorrhea(loss of menstruation)
• Skin problems
• Dizziness and headaches
• Dehydration
• Shortness of breath
• Irregular heartbeats
• Cold hands and feet
• Bloating
• Constipation
• Hair loss
• Stomach pains
• Decreased metabolic rate
• Edema (water retention)
• Lanugo(fine downy hair)
• Loss of bone mass
• Kidney and liver damage
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Osteoporosis
• Insomnia
• Anemias
• Infertility
• Depression
• Cathartic colon(caused from laxative abuse)
• Low potassium (most common cause of nocturnal cardiac arrest)
• Cardiac arrest and death 

What does Anorexia do to you and your family?:

When you have anorexia it harms you and your family, in many different ways. It harms you because it makes you very skinny and sick, and it rots your teeth away from throwing up so much, and your body is not used to losing so much stomach acid. Some ways that it harms your family are: when they see you like this its hard for them too, there's nothing they can do to help you unless you want to be helped which is very unlikely, and they are sad because they really don't want to see you hurting yourself  and your body. It really hurts your family to see you like this, and it hurts you both physically and emotionally, so why do it to yourself?

Bulimia

Bulimia nervosa, often called bulimia, is a type of eating disorder. A person with bulimia eats a lot of food in a short amount of time (binges) and then tries to prevent weight gain by getting rid of the food, called purging. Purging might be done by:

• making yourself throw up
• taking laxatives — pills or liquids that speed up the movement of food through your body and lead to a bowel movement

A person with bulimia may also exercise a lot, eat very little or not at all, or take pills to pass urine to prevent weight gain.

Signs and Symptoms

• Binge eating
• Secretive eating (food missing)
• Bathroom visits after eating
• Vomiting
• Laxative, diet pill or diuretic abuse
• Weight fluctuations (usually with 10-15 lb range)
• Swollen glands
• Broken blood vessels
• Harsh exercise regimes
• Fasting
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Severe self-criticism
• Self-worth determined by weight
• Fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily
• Self-deprecating thoughts following eating
• Fatigue
• Muscle weakness
• Tooth decay
• Irregular heartbeats
• Avoidance of restaurants, planned meals or social events
• Complains of sore throat
• Need for approval from others
• Substance abuse
• Ipecac abuse 

   

Physical/Medical Complications

• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Amenorrhea(loss of menstruation) and irregular menstruation
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Dehydration
• Constipation and diarrhea
• Shortness of breath
• Irregular heartbeats
• Depression
• Tears of esophagus
• Hair loss
• Stomach pain and bloating
• Erosion of teeth enamel
• Chronic sore throat
• Kidney and liver damage
• Parotid gland enlargement
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Cathartic colon (caused from laxative abuse)
• Edema (swelling of hands and feet)
• Low blood pressure
• Chest pains
• Development of peptic ulcers and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
• Gastric dilation and rupture
• Abrasions on back of hands and knuckles
• Anemias
• Cardiac arrest and death 

   

How does Bulimia harm you and your Family?:

When you have this eating disorder it's hard to stop, you think that whatever you eat will make you very fat so you throw it all up. When you do this you are hurting yourself and your family at the same time because like anorexia, it's hard for them to see you like this. It harms you because it makes you so skinny and soon you just make yourself turn to nothing because there's nothing left of you - you've thrown everything up. It harms your family because when and if the see you like this it makes them feel like there is nothing that they can do, it's like if you dont want help then they can't give it to you. Again like anorexia if you dont want help then you will never get it unless you are forced into it. The reason why its so hard to get help is because you just want to be skinnier and skinnier because although you think you look attractive, you don't. It's gross when you can see every bone in your body and your legs and arms are the size of toothpicks. Even though you think it looks good it doesn't, it's better to have more weight than none at all.

Websites:

http://womenshealth.gov/faq/Easyread/bulnervosa-etr.htm#a

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=1428

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eating+disorders&search=Search

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWAfo0PvVvI

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_RFd7Pop8tI

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_kSvpFDI8Nk

To read stories about other people's encounters with bulimia, go to this website:

http://www.eating.ucdavis.edu/speaking/told/bulimia/index.html

Compulsive Eating

Compulsive eating is when you eat and eat and dont throw it up. The reason you do this is because you feel guilty and full of shame, so all you do is eat your problems away. This eating disorder usually starts during childhood and slowly grows as you get older, as it happens you learn that food can soothe some of the upset feelings that you may get. Like someone with bulimia, when you compulsively overeat, you usually try every way you can think of to stop. But the reason why you cant is because you're so upset and have such a bad feeling that it doesn't feel like you'll ever stop, and that it's the only way to cope with your problems. You need to learn, however, that there are other ways to deal with your feelings and mixed up emotions, and that eating and not stopping isn't the only way.

Signs and Symptoms

• Binge eating
• Fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily
• Depression
• Self-deprecating thoughts following binges
• Withdrawing from activities because of embarrassment about weight
• Going on many different diets
• Eating little in public, while maintaining a high weight
• Believing they will be a better person when thin
• Feelings about self based on weight
• Social and professional failures attributed to weight
• Feeling tormented by eating habits
• Weight is focus of life

How Compulsive Eating Hurts you and your Family:

This eating disorder can hurt you and your family. It can hurt you because it's bad for your health - eating a whole lot of food can harm your body and your health. You can hurt your family by doing this because once again there isnt really anything that they can do to help you unless of course you are forced into doing something that yo really dont want to do becuase you dont want anyone to know about your problem. The reason why you dont want anyone to know about your probelm is because you dont want people to know that you hide your feelings with food. The reason you should tell people about your probelm is because they can help you, and this is good for you because then you'll have better health. You may be embarrassed to tell people at first, but it'll be better for you in the end. If you keep eating and gain weight it might lead to anorexia, or you could have very bad health which could make you very sick. If your family keeps having to buy food for you, they might not have as much money as they used to and this isn't good for you, them, or the rest of the family. Tell people if you have compulsive eating; it'll help you.

Binge Eating Disorder:

Binge eating is basically the same thing as compulsive eating - when you eat a bunch of food to hide your feelings. To read more about it, read about compulsive eating above. The information for binge eating is the same as it.

Signs and Symptoms

• weight gain
• feeling out of control over eating
• low self-esteem
• depression
• anxiety
• experiences fluctuations in weight
• loss of sexual desire
• hiding food
• feelings of guilt and shame
• disgusted with self
• going on many different diets
• belief that life will be better if they lose weight
• secretive eating patterns
• avoidance of social situations where food will be present
• suicidal thoughts

   

  Physical/Medical Complications

  • obesity
  • menstrual irregularities
  • diabetes
  • high blood pressure
  • high cholestrol
  • osteoarthritis
  • decreased mobility
  • shortness of breath
  • heart disease
  • liver and kidney problems
  • cardiac arrest and/or death

   

   

  Eating Disorders

   

   

  Eating disorders are expressions of food and weight problems that are experienced by many people, mainly girls and women. They include anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. Eating disorders are dangerous and they can cause major health problems. Girls with eating disorders can do damage to their bodies. Limiting  what you eat can make you sick—like feeling nauseous, tired, dizzy, or irritable. If this behavior happens too long, it can mess up your menstrual cycle, dry out your hair and skin, and might even cause early osteoporosis—which is a disease of the bones. The physical problems can end up killing you. But the physical problems are only half the story. The emotional problems can also be just as seriuos be serious too. An unhealthy attitude about food and body image is the biggest problem. Some girls use food to make themselves feel better; and others stop eating to feel like they are "in control" of their life. Both of these behaviors leave people feeling bad about what they are eating. The worst of them all is, the more people begin to obsess over what they are eating (or not eating), the less they care about other things—like school, friends, or other activities.

  Simple Ways to Cure an Eating Disorder without Telling Anyone:

  - Try and tell yourself everyday that you are pretty no matter what size you are or how much you weigh.

  - Stop starving yourself and tell yourself you are allowed to eat because your weight doesn't matter. After you eat something, you'll gain all of about 5 pounds, which you will lose later when your metabolism recovers.

  - Find courage in yourself and belive that you can make yourself stop what you are doing to your body.

  - Make yourself a chart, saying when you're going to eat and how much, until before you know it, you are back to eating regular, healthy meals. Stick to this chart because you need the food in your body.

  - Say to yourself that when you are hungry you should eat, because when you are tired you go to sleep, right?

  - Also you can tell yourself that you have an appetite for a reason, and if you don't fill it up, your not doing yourself or your family any good.

  - Get someone - a family or friend, anyone you know - to make you a really good looking meal that you would've loved to eat before you had an eating disorder. That way, you know it's really good and looks really tasty, so you'll eat it sooner or later because you're so tempted.

  - Look in the mirror every day and see if you have improved, if you have tell yourself that it's a good thing, and that it's good for you.

  Some Video Ideas:

  - Pictures/videos of models and celebrities looking extremely tiny from anorexia/other eating disorders

  If you have any video ideas that could be used for this project please edit this page, we sure could use them.

  Parents involved in eating disorders

  One of the first’s things I read on an article which was about parents influencing their daughters in having eating disorders. Most of the people that think of an eating disorder do not thing of it being related with the family but the family is a great influenced, sometimes parents make their daughters or sons to be thin and start saying them they need to be thin or criticizing on their shape or weight although they do not know that they could cause a severe problem as an eating disorder. This could happen because sometimes parents when they were kids or mostly teenagers always wanted to be thin or had a psychological problem for being thin. Parents influencing kids start concerning them from their childhood.

  I saw two videos of eating disorders in the BBC News one was about a girl who wanted to be thin but she never thought of an eating disorder. But searching on the internet she saw a page that said you hate yourself, you are fat you want to be anorexic and then she started reading and she registered on the page she says that it ruins her life she would wish that the page have never appeared.

  The other video I saw was on Italian government targeting Italian models for no being anorexic and extremely thin. The Italian government is trying to make people and teenagers see that you don’t have to be anorexic to be beautiful as a model. I think this is an excellent project and a great idea Italians had.

  I didn’t know that parents influenced their daughters to having an eating disorder. I think that when people make campaigns or things to have less people with eating disorders they should not only talk with the kids or teenagers they should talk to their parents. When they talk with them they should guide them. The schools should do campaigns for eating disorders because you almost past most of the day at school, and the school is your second family almost any school here in Cartagena I think makes any campaigns or teachings to the teenagers and kids to be prevented for eating disorders. By making kids aware, kids would not go to WebPages or thing on the web to have an eating disorder. I have a friend who was anorexic bur just starting she was thin and she said she was fat she didn’t eat any breakfast and anything at school she just ate her lunch during the day. But then I and my friends started telling her she needed to eat because she could get sick and she start eating and now she eats at school and has a great body weight and shape.

  I think I should research more on the family reaction when people have an eating disorder and the family help given to the affected. On the percentage of Hollywood stars with an eating disorder as the Olsen twins, Victoria Beckaman, and Lindsay Lohan this are some famous people that are involved or have been involved in eating disorders, I want to know how they feel know before of it ad if they have right now how do they feel right now.

  Finally this re the things I want to learn and my opinion I hope you like it.

   

   Female Celebrities and Eating disorders

    

  We wanted to know about fmaous people I found some information on celebrities. Many famous people have an eating disorder I can say that mostly girls because I haven’t found any famous men with an eating disorder.

   

  The first women I found was a Brazilian model called Ana Carolina Reston which died when she was 21 years old. This happened because she had anorexia, and anorexia gave her an infection which killed her. Her cousin Dani Grimaldi told the estado the Sao Paulo that her cousin once had bulimia to. It is terrible and heartbreaking to say that someone died because she couldn’t get a treatment for an eating disorder. Mostly if she died at age 21 anorexia is an eating disorder that needs to be taken serious.

   

  The second celebrity I search on was Nicole Richie very know for many teenagers. A doctor called DR. Jantz said that if she didn’t take care of herself she could die like she is putting herself in danger. She is working with a team of doctors who are nutritionists to eat on a healthy way although this is not a treatment for an eating disorder. She left the eating disorder treatment 72 hours later. They found her under the influence of drugs so the people said is it drugs who make her skinny or anorexia or both.

   

  Lindsay Lohan was another girl who had an eating disorder she says that it ruin her life. She doesn’t like that girls follow them just for being famous and having money like who said that money buys you health, money, and love.

   

  Another girl who admitted she had an eating disorder in her pre-teen years was Ashlee Simpson. She learned a lesson from the experience to love her body. She thinks that she has good curves and is not sexy a women who is just a bone and is sad when someone looks at the mirror and sees herself ugly.

   

  I think that what Ashley Simpson thinks about a girl looking at the mirror and seeing herself ugly is very often on people. Mostly teenagers when they look in the mirror they never see themselves as a beautiful girl they always found something even a little thing they don’t like about themselves for examples today in the world many girls when they have there sweet 15 or 16 they ask there parents to give some kind of plastic surgery don’t matter the risk it has.

   

  I think that a girl who has 15 or 16 is not at the age to have a plastic surgery. They start at that age and you don’t know how many more surgeries they are going to make they aren’t natural anymore. The girls or boys should feel and be comfortable with their physic appearance and what they have that is the way God make them. But obviously if they have a surgery because they had an accident it doesn’t matter.

   

  Other things that I want to know about my topic are the eating disorders on men. The opinion of doctors on eating disorders. I hope you like my post and see all those Hollywood stars you believe have a perfect life.

   

   Poems

   

  Hi, I’m Honoka in Mr. R’s class. The reason why I chose eating disorder is because my mother’s friend had eating disorder before. She told me that you have to buy food and eat, but then you will throw up everything that you just ate. So I think this is serious problem and if I can, I want to help people who have problems like this. In my class we are doing poetry so I would be doing poetry and photo/image stuff. I will write poetry based on information I got here. I don’t really have ideas that we can use, but I’m thinking about having intro poetry to introduce what eating disorder is about. Maybe we can find image that goes with that poetry too.

  I made 2 poems in my English class. It has been edited by Mr. R, but if you have any suggestion, please tell me. Please use them.

   

  For Anorexia

   

  Standing on an edge of a cliff –

  Heart beating,

  Heavy noise is keep going in my head

  Freezing cold death,

  Hands and feet don't have feeling anymore

  I can't find a way back down,

  I can't dive from this height,

  All I do is standing on an edge of cliff

   

  For Bulimia

   

  I'm watching a video tape –

  But rewinding it so I can watch it again

  Each time that scene passes

  I'm rewinding to watch it again

  I can see tears rolling down my face

  Depression that I can’t control

  But I can only move my hand to rewind

   

  I hope you will like it.

   

  Hey Honoka, this is April from Mr. Fisher's class. I just finished reading your poems; they are amazing! I think you did a really good job with them - they are really powerful and say a lot about eating disorders. When I heard that you guys would be writing poems, I thought it was a really great idea! But then I wondered, won't it be really hard to write poems on these topics?? However, when I read the poems you wrote and other poems people wrote on different pages, I thought they were amazing and I'm really happy you guys wrote them. They were most definitely worth the time; they turned out great! Just wondering, are you taking any pictures as well? I saw some on other people's pages so I was just wondering if any were coming on here. To sum it all up, you did an excellent job with these poems. I found some audio tracks; they're all listed below. Tell me what you think of them and if we should use them or not. Keep up the great work! -April

   

  http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/2107/     - go to that link again and click on the song "Slownly." Again, it won't allow me to give the direct link.

   

  http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/3919     - go to that link and click on the song "Your Eyes." I don't know if it will work - the song is good, but there is singing in it later on...but it still might work ?

   

  http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/2171/     - go to that link and click on the song "Oceans of my Heart (Instrumental.)" Make sure it's the instrumental version, because I think it'll work better than the one with words for our video.

   

  The mood I was trying to get was a slow, moody one - but not moody enough to make it depressing. Those songs are slow and have powerful instruments in them, and I didn't think they were too depressing, but they would definitely help create the mood in the video and make people think. Have a listen to them and tell me what you think - are they too depressing or no?? Should they be used or should we search for something else?? Thanks a lot for your help! -April

   

  Hi I'm Katie I'm in Mr.Fishers Class and was just wondering about some music ideas I will post omse links to different tracks and just tell me what you think about them or what you would like me to search for, I was thinking something slow and moody but not depressing well bye.

   

  - Katie

   

  http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/2107/- I think that this piece of music is very good because it really creates a mood to a serious topic like this one.

   

  http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/2171/ - thi s is another link that i think will be very good for the video what do you think?

   

  -Katie