Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia is a neuropsychiatric disorder, which is manifested by an exaggerated fear of possible obesity and a passionate desire to lose weight. Patients with this disease are characterized by the desire for regular weight loss through fasting and dieting, regular use of enemas, vomiting after meals and inadequate grueling workouts.
With this disease, not only significant weight loss occurs, but also a biased attitude to one’s own physiological indicators, sleep disorders and depressive states. Gradually, the body is depleted, which leads to arrhythmia, weakness, chilliness, muscle spasms and menstrual irregularities.
The main danger of this disease is that, like drug addicts and alcoholics, patients with anorexia do not recognize that they have any health problems. A severe form of anorexia can lead to irreversible changes in the body, causing death.
Causes of anorexia
Disorders or diseases of certain systems or organs of a person can provoke the onset of this disease, for example, it can be:
endocrine system disorder;
dental diseases;
respiratory diseases;
malignant tumors;
disorders of the digestive system;
taking medications that affect the central nervous system, tranquilizers, antidepressants, abuse of caffeine or sedatives;
violation of the feeding regime or over-feeding, which is typical for young children.
Most often, the disease is observed in young girls. This is the so-called anorexia nervosa, the main symptoms of which are an exaggerated fear of being overweight with low self-esteem, which causes a psychological taboo before eating. This condition becomes the easiest option for the patient to maintain her attractiveness due to minimal weight.
Since the psyche of a teenage girl is unstable, then gradually the idea of losing weight becomes the most valuable, which causes a loss of contact with reality and the lack of an adequate attitude to one’s own physical condition.
Symptoms of anorexia
As a rule, the symptoms of anorexia are expressed as:
a passionate desire to lose weight, even if the weight indicators are normal;
obsessive fear of the appearance of excess weight;
inadequate attitude to eating, fixing most of the attention on weight loss issues, obsessive calorie counting;
frequent refusal to eat, which is explained by a lack of appetite;
psychological discomfort after eating;
the desire for excessive physical activity, psychological breakdowns, in its absence;
choosing baggy clothes to hide “excess weight”;
aggressiveness in defending their beliefs about nutrition and physiological indicators;
the desire to retire;
depressed psyche, apathy, depression, lack of performance, sleep disturbance;
persistent refusal of food against the background of the patient’s denial of her health problems;
significant reduction in body weight;
absence of menstrual cycle;
decreased sexual activity;
frequent fainting, weakness and dizziness.
Diagnostics
Often, a physical examination and an anamnesis survey are enough to make such a diagnosis.
Treatment of anorexia
Since the progression of this disease causes pathological changes in hemostasis, the main direction of treatment is to compensate for the functioning of the main human systems, restore water, ion and electrolyte balance, prescribe vitamin and mineral complexes, and high-calorie nutrition. If necessary, parenteral administration of food is used.
But all these measures cannot have any effect on the psychological causes that provoked this disease. To restore the patient, it is necessary to conduct psychotherapy, in which the patient’s close people will also take an active part. Unfortunately, if the patient does not recognize the presence of a certain mental deviation, all the results in the cure of this disease will be temporary
