How to Understand That the Desire to Eat Only Salad Is Exaggerated

You may suffer from an eating disorder, but you may not suspect it. It is this problem - ignorance - that is most important in the case of eating disorders. Some people, for years, dare to go on strange diets, "take it in their hands", but do not even turn to a psychologist.

Misconceptions about psychologists, the influence of the media, the advice of relatives/friends, all of these often lead us to make our diagnosis. I invite you to find out in general what are eating disorders, their symptoms, and what does not constitute a deviation from the norm.

Contemporary psychology qualifies 3 types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and hyperphagia. They all look alike, but there are also combinations. Anorexia was considered a phase of bulimia 30 years ago, so the psychological processes of the two diseases are similar.

Nervous hyperphagia

It is the most common eating disorder. It has a lot in common with periods of drunkenness, so the attitude towards food, in this case, is similar to the attitude towards drinking of people who suffer from alcoholism.

Symptoms:

● repeated attacks of compulsive eating - consumption of food in large quantities, which would hardly have assimilated in a normal situation in the same period;

● loss of control over the process of overeating;

● very fast food consumption;

● eating until the uncomfortable feeling of saturation appears;

● feeling guilty during the meal, self-loathing, depression;

● the desire to eat alone because of the feeling of shame or fear of being condemned.

If in the last half of the year the person eats excessively at least twice a week, we can talk about a possible eating disorder. Easter and New Year's Eve are not taken into account. This disorder differs from bulimia and anorexia (in some cases) in the lack of urges to empty the stomach after each attack.

Bulimia

It is an eating disorder characterized by a loss of control over the amount of food ingested and subsequent cleansing of the body. This is done through various means: induced vomiting, enemas, laxatives, or strenuous physical exertion. It is accompanied by the emptying of the refrigerator during the night and the uncontrolled swallowing of food during the day.

Symptoms:

● food consumption in colossal quantities;

● the food is not chewed, but swallowed in large pieces;

● lack of control over the process of ingesting food, inability to stop;

● emptying the stomach after a meal;

● man no longer distinguishes the taste of food.

So bulimia differs from hyperphagia by the lack of taste in food - the person eats, but the food does not seem tasty, even disgusting. But he enjoys eating too much. In the case of bulimia, the weight is within normal limits, as opposed to hyperphagia.

Anorexia

Extremely dangerous disorder. It is characterized by the conscious abandonment of food for weight loss and by the exacerbated fear of gaining weight. Anorexia is most common in adolescents.

Symptoms:

● weight by 15% and more below normal limits;

● obsessive preoccupation with one's weight, permanent weighing, weight loss treatments;

● consuming food in very small quantities or opting for low-calorie products, reducing appetite;

● ignoring the feeling of hunger, and later - its total disappearance;

● disorders and cessation of menstruation, reduced libido;

● hair loss, tooth loss, loss of consciousness, bruised skin, stomach pain, heart problems, decreased immunity, and worsening health.

Anorexia differs from bulimia by lack of appetite, by extremely serious health complications to the end of death (in the case of bulimia the situation is not so critical), and weight loss of up to 50% (in the case of bulimia the weight often remains in limits rules).

Orthorexia

Obsession with healthy eating, looking for the most useful food, which is cultivated, properly prepared, and consumed - the same, according to the rules. Aggressive veganism, vegetarianism, and a raw diet are attributed to this category.

When most of the time the person is obsessed with obsessive thoughts, his communication focuses only on this topic, then an eating disorder can be suspected. The desire to eat properly, in essence, is good, only if it does not become an obsession when more and more products are included in the category "Forbidden" !.

People who suffer from orthorexia claim that they use only healthy products in their diet, not objectively useful ones, because they alone determine their use based on their own beliefs.

Ignore taste preferences. If he breaks the strict rules, he has rebukes of conscience and a feeling of anxiety when a product from the list of forbidden ones reaches his stomach - this is an important symptom. At first glance, it seems like a healthy habit, but it's still an eating disorder.

So what is considered normal? The healthy and normal attitude towards food, when a person eats to satisfy his hunger, to provide the body with micro-and macro-elements, without abusing, at the same time receiving pleasure from the taste of food.

When food provides you with the energy you need, but it does not replace communication with people, the feeling of compassion. When physical things (products) are intended for the physical, but not the mental, that the psychic mechanisms must take care of.

Be vigilant and healthy!