Anorexia People
There are many people who suffer from anorexia and many have severe health issues before they admit they have a problem and ask for help. Vital parts of the body such as the heart, kidneys, and brain can be effected to a point that it may not be possible to reverse the problem. The life threatening problems from being anorexic can be anemia, heart problems such as irregular heart beat, heart failure, and mitral valve prolapse, bone loss which can cause broken bones or fractures, lung problems much like emphysema, lack of periods in females, decreased testosterone in males, constipation, bloating, nausea, low blood potassium, low sodium, low chloride, and kidney problems. There are also mental problems caused from anorexia. These may be depression, anxiety disorders, drug abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder, and personality disorders. If there are more than one of these disorders going on at the same time it can make treatment much more difficult. There may be dizziness, a feeling of being cold all of the time, fatigue, irritable, angry, moody, sad, anxious, or hopeless. The person may have a low self esteem and try to live on foods like lettuce, carrots, diet soda, and popcorn.
Many people with anorexia do not want help until their health gets so severe and life threatening that they reach the point of either die or get help. They feel like they are backed into a corner and they are doomed either way. The sad part of it is that they may have already damaged parts of their bodies that can not be reversed with treatment.
It is believed that anorexia begins from peer pressure, it may be genetic, or low self esteem. It can be caused from biological, psychological, or socioculture reasons. They may have a family member who has an eating disorder, they may have personality traits that make them want to look good and strive for perfection, and they may think they need to look like the models in magazines or on television in order to fin in with the ‘in crowd’. Most of the time anorexia begins when the person is in their teens but it can happen at a younger age and also happens in the later years. The society makes it hard for a lot of people to cope and feel like they belong so they resort to anorexia to be the answer to their problems. They find out later that it is not the answer to their problems. We are all different with different bodies, personalities, and cultures. We should not have to worry about what we look like so we can ‘fit in’. It is what is inside of us that truly matters but it is so hard for a teen or others to see that sometimes so they do what they feel they have to do to belong and end up harming themselves.
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