Anxiety Depression and Anorexia Symptoms
Anxiety depression and anorexia symptoms can often be confused and the either disease can be miss-diagnosed because some of the symptoms are alike. Depression can play a big part of anorexia because the victim can become depressed about their weight. Depression may be one of the first symptoms to look for. Anorexia symptoms are a combination of both mental and physical problems. It is believed that anorexia is caused from three factors, biological, psychological, and sociocultural. A victim may have a family member who also has an eating disorder so this suggests that there might be a possible link here. The victim may have a low self esteem and they may have an extreme drive for perfectionism and to them that means to be thin. Culture has had a lot to do with the mindset of young people in that they see skinny models, actresses, and actors and they feel that this is the only way to succeed in life. Peer pressure may also play a large part in the mix. The victim may be abused, made fun of, called names, etc. so they feel the need to lose weight in order to stop these actions. They feel a need to ‘fit in’ or ‘belong’.
Anorexia usually begins in the teens although it can happen much younger or older. There are over 8 million people who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder and the average age is 17. There are about 1 million males and 7 million females. Although most of the victims are female, there are also many males who feel the pressure and the need to lose weight too. Weight loss is being stressed to the public now more than ever and there are more cases of anorexia diagnosed today than ever before. The people with anorexia lose weight as fast and any way they can. They either stop eating or eat much less, skip meals, purge, take laxatives or enemas or other ways. They try to hide their weight loss or thinness for as long as they can. Anorexia has usually gone to a dangerous level before the people around the victim realizes there is a problem.
Some of the signs and symptoms to look for, besides the ones already mentioned, are fatigue, dizziness, fainting, brittle nails, hair thinning, falling out, or breaking, constipation, low blood pressure, irregular heart beat, dehydration, osteoporosis, excessive exercise, lack of emotion, trouble concentrating, menstrual period ceases (in females), decreased testosterone (in males), wears layered clothing or baggy clothing to hide their weight loss, checking in the mirror often for flaws, weighing often, complaining about being fat, and more. Anorexia can cause severe damage to every organ in the body and even death if not caught soon enough.
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