Eating disorders are made up of attitudes, beliefs and behaviors about food and body image that result from negative feelings associated with the food itself. Behaviors can be varied, from taking a small amount of food, to vomiting after meals, to overeating and compulsively. If you want to treat an eating disorder, you are probably already aware that you will have to work hard to have a healthier relationship with food. It can be difficult to admit that you have a problem, but it can be even more difficult to ask for help and start treatment. Keep in mind that many other people have faced the emotional problems associated with eating disorders and you can too.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Asking for Help
Step 1. Contact a mental health professional
At the heart of an eating disorder is often extreme pain, self-esteem issues, shame, and difficulty expressing emotions. The best person to talk to is a skilled and knowledgeable therapist who can help you begin the recovery process. Eating disorders are potentially deadly and, although teachers, friends and loved ones can all take care of you and try to help you better manage the problem, it is essential that you seek help from a psychologist who can help you and who you can. trust.
- If you are still in middle school or high school, see your school psychologist. If there is no such figure in your institution, talk to the school nurse about what you are going through.
- Some universities have a psychologist who can be contacted. You may also have access to the health center where a doctor is present; several universities offer this service, especially those offering a wide range of faculties, including nursing and medicine.
- If you are an adult, seek out a doctor who specializes in the area of eating disorders; you can do an online search to find some in your area. Outpatient therapy is also a good starting point for starting the recovery journey and can help you cope with the emotional needs that accompany this disease.
- Dialectical-behavioral and cognitive-behavioral therapy are effective in treating the problem. These approaches help address thoughts and emotions, which are crucial factors to look into when it comes to eating disorders.
- Family therapy is also often an important component in the treatment of this condition. Family members may need to understand the issue better and learn to relate more comprehensively to a family member affected by the disease; sometimes, in fact, family dynamics can aggravate the situation.
- Many people have been successfully treated for eating disorders and have no longer suffered emotionally; they have come to live a happy, peaceful and fulfilling existence.
Step 2. Contact a doctor
Eating disorders, especially anorexia, can cause significant damage to the body and even death. Take your health seriously. Get a comprehensive medical evaluation from a competent doctor who can determine your health status. There may be underlying problems due to the eating disorder, such as osteoporosis, abnormal bradycardia, severe dehydration, kidney failure, gastric perforation or peptic ulcer.
- To take care of yourself, you need to start nourishing yourself and set a better relationship between your mind, body and emotions.
- Get regular medical checks throughout the healing process.
- If you have bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, your doctor may prescribe fluoxetine (Prozac) to reduce the frequency of bingeing.
- The death rate in people who do not undergo treatment for this disease is very high. If you want to be more likely to have a long and healthy life, you need to seek medical and psychological treatment.
Step 3. Monitor your mental health
If you suffer from depression, anxiety or other mental problems, see a therapist and / or take medications to control them. Therapy teaches you to develop management skills to stay healthy and cope with life's stressors. If you are feeling particularly anxious or depressed, you run a greater risk of relapsing from an eating disorder, so it is essential to make an effort to acquire these skills.
Many people with this condition have a history of trauma, such as lack of attention during childhood, bullying, physical or sexual abuse, all of which lead to low self-esteem. During the work with the psychologist it is important to talk about these feelings and to overcome the trauma
Step 4. Seek support from closest friends and family
Surround yourself with people who love you and who can support you; maintain intimate contact with those who want you happy and healthy. Instead, stay away from those who encourage unhealthy eating habits or make you feel uncomfortable with your body.
You should find different friends or groups of friends to help you avoid triggers. Stay close to the people who love and support you, don't get discouraged and ignore the judgment of others
Step 5. Consider getting inpatient or residential treatment
They are great options for those who cannot manage psychological and / or physical symptoms on their own and who need more intensive care. Inpatient treatment involves going to an eating disorder center for more medical and psychological care. The residential one, on the other hand, is more suitable for people who are clinically more stable and focuses mostly on psychological treatments with pharmacological support. Many centers also have dieticians who can help you plan or provide an adequate diet.
If you think you need more support than weekly therapy or are having great difficulty managing psychological and physical symptoms, you can seek this type of treatment
Part 2 of 4: Recognizing the Symptoms
Step 1. Recognize the emotional symptoms
Although eating disorders can vary from one person to another, some signs are similar for all types of the problem. Most sick people are overly concerned with their body, weight and appearance. Among the main emotional symptoms are:
- Concern about food and calorie counts
- Fear of certain foods, such as those that contain fat
- Extreme fear of gaining weight or being "fat";
- Self-esteem and self-perception based on the physical sensation of the body;
- Removal from situations involving food;
- Weigh yourself often
- Denial of eating problems or weight loss
- Isolation from friends.
Step 2. Look for the symptoms of anorexia
It can be difficult to distinguish healthy weight loss from unsafe weight loss in any single person. If you are worried about weight loss and negative feelings about your body, you are not and you will not be satisfied with your appearance, you think you are fat regardless of how much weight you are losing, you could risk suffering from anorexia. This is a serious disease that can even lead to death. Some of the symptoms are:
- Extreme food limitation;
- Extreme thinness, wasting;
- Inability to maintain a normal weight, constant attempt to maintain a leaner and more slender appearance;
- Amenorrhea in women and girls
- Dry, yellowish skin, brittle hair;
- Hypotension.
Step 3. Recognize the symptoms of bulimia
This disorder is characterized by eating a large amount of food (binging) and then avoiding gaining weight by vomiting, taking laxatives (or other drugs), or exercising too much. Most people with bulimia tend to have an average weight or just above. Symptoms include:
- Eating large amounts of food at one time
- Losing control during binges
- Eating beyond the sense of satiety;
- Eat until you feel bad;
- Finding comfort in food after experiencing feelings of sadness or loneliness
- Vomiting, taking laxatives, or exercising immediately after eating
- Bingeing and / or secretly purging;
- Having worn tooth enamel
- Having a sore or swollen throat.
Step 4. Check for symptoms of binge eating disorder
This condition, also called compulsive bingeing, occurs when a person eats an excessive amount of food but takes no further steps to lose weight. During the binge, the patient may lose control or even completely depersonalize; usually, it is a person who tends to be overweight or obese. Often, such behavior leads to feelings of shame and embarrassment, which in turn leads to eating even more.
Part 3 of 4: Changing the Bad Habits
Step 1. Identify the triggers of the eating disorder
You may be induced to follow bad eating habits by looking at pictures of skinny famous people, searching the internet for pro-ana (pro-anorexia) websites, getting ready for bikini season, or due to stress for an exam or exam. anniversary of a painful event. Keep in mind that when you feel vulnerable it is easier to relapse into the eating disorder.
- Once you have identified the factors that lead you to the unhealthy behaviors, you can set up a plan to manage them. You can call your sister or best friend, say a prayer, or see a counselor.
- Your therapist can teach you healthy ways to manage triggering episodes when they occur.
Step 2. Avoid eating regimes
Diets are a bit like preventing a child from playing a fun game - if he can't get it, he wants it even more. It can also be a valid concept for eating disorders: when you can't reach certain foods, the temptation to eat them increases and when you eat them you continue to feel shame and guilt. Diets can lead to compulsive craving for food.
- Work with a dietician to help you return to healthy eating habits.
- You can decide to become a vegetarian or a vegan, but consider your motivations. If you make these choices to limit certain foods and not for purely health or moral reasons, you need to reconsider this lifestyle.
- Indulge in occasional treats. If you like chocolate cake or cheeseburger, don't give up on eating some from time to time. Food has the purpose of nourishing the organism, but it must also give pleasure; it is important to eat foods that you enjoy and that make you feel good.
Step 3. Reduce physical activity
If you train too much, you should consider reducing your exercise routine; it is a healthy activity, just like eating, but only in a balanced quantity. An excess or lack of physical activity or food can harm the body.
- Cutting back on training doesn't mean cutting it out completely, but you can take a temporary break to help your body regain energy if you've worked too hard and stressed it out. See a doctor when you are ready to change your exercise habits.
- Make physical activity something to honor and love your body, not damage it or lose weight.
Step 4. Improve your body image
Stop engaging in conversations about your physical appearance and that of other people. This also means not talking about the bodies of famous people. Get used to abandoning the mentality that leads you to denigrate your body and that of others. Also avoid having people around you talk negatively about their appearance.
- List the positive qualities of your physique. They don't have to be related to weight; you may like your curly hair or eye color or the fact that you have a protruding navel. There are some parts of the body that are overlooked when focusing only on what feels ugly.
- It may be difficult to get a compliment without finding a way to minimize it, but smile and respond with a "Thank you".
- If you hear other people speaking ill of their bodies, remember that it is important to treat yourself and others kindly.
- Avoid situations that encourage shame about fat, whether it's the news media, friends, or magazines.
Step 5. Eat mindfully
Instead of focusing on negative associations with food, pay attention to the action. Take time to practice mindfulness during meals; find time to eat, sit down at the table and give thanks for the food in front of you. Take a moment before starting to eat to visualize the pleasure of food: look at its color, texture and arrangement on the plate. Smell it and feel the salivation in your mouth. When you are ready to eat, chew the bites slowly and appreciate their taste, texture and aroma.
- When you eat, you need to be present in the moment. Turn off the TV and remove any other distractions. Place your fork on the table between bites and try to focus on the scent, appearance, flavor, temperature, and even sound of the food when you chew it. If your mind gets distracted it's not a problem, but try to guide it to gently bring it back to the present moment.
- Eating consciously means making a conscious choice of food and determining what you eat. If you have trouble staying focused, try saying to yourself, "I want to have breakfast to nourish my body because I love myself."
- When you have a hard time eating foods that you previously excluded, repeat to yourself, "I'm choosing to eat a chocolate cake for dessert because I like it."
Step 6. Block negative inner talk
You may not even realize how many negative thoughts are going through your mind. When you become aware of one of these, stop it, observe it and then analyze it.
- Ask yourself if this thought is based on reality, if it is a real fact or just your interpretation.
- Look for alternative assessments (is this the best way to approach? Can there be other meanings?).
- Evaluate the thought from another perspective (is it possible that I am exaggerating or expecting the worst? Will this still matter in two years?).
- Set a goal-oriented mindset (is there a way to approach the situation that can help me achieve goals? Can I learn something from this?).
- If you have thoughts like, "I'm fat and nobody likes me," evaluate that thought and start dealing with it. Try asking yourself, "Is it really true that nobody likes me? No, I have a real friend, my dog and I know they love me." Or: "Am I really fat? I weigh only 50kg and I'm 1.70m tall, that means I'm underweight. Also, my friend also says I'm too thin. Even if I'm fat, I'm still nice and loving."
Part 4 of 4: Changing the Mindset
Step 1. Listen to your body
If you have an eating disorder, you have made a habit of ignoring your body's signals. Instead, you have to learn to focus and listen to it very carefully. Let the body tell you when it is hungry and listen to it; when he has had enough food, he feels satisfied; not swollen or sore, but satisfied. The same thing goes for physical activity: your body sends you the signal that it has done enough exercise when you feel tired or exhausted. The right way to approach this is to learn moderation.
- Your body can tell you when to eat and when to stop, as well as when to exercise and when to stop. Learn to trust the messages he sends you and, more importantly, to listen to them. Trust the body's innate ability to tell you what it needs.
- If you ate too much or binge in the past, learn to listen carefully to your body and any signals it sends to you to know when it is hungry or full.
Step 2. Pay attention to emotions
Do you resort to food when you feel happy, stressed or sad? Or do you punish yourself for the emotions you experience by limiting food? Some people escape unpleasant emotions by suppressing them with food. Challenge yourself and deal with those feelings by allowing yourself to experience them. Recognize that eating disorders are much more associated with the desire to avoid unpleasant emotions than with food itself. Taking refuge in food is a way of practicing self-control, while binging can be a way to find comfort from sadness or anguish and the laxative is a way to punish yourself.
Think about what feelings lead you to behave in this way and remember that "fat" is not a feeling. You may have problems with self-esteem and self-respect. What happened right before you turned your attention to food? Were you experiencing a feeling of loneliness, sadness, or did you feel at fault for something? Try to understand what emotions are driving you to have bad eating habits
Step 3. Find a healthy way to approach the problem
Once you understand what emotion you are having a hard time admitting, find a way to manage it and deal with stressors as they arise. Not everyone reacts in the same way, so take some time to understand what helps you to deal with your problems. Try different techniques and find the one that works best for you. Here are some of them:
- Call a friend or family member;
- Listening to music;
- Playing with your pet;
- Read a book;
- Take a walk;
- Write;
- Go outside.
Step 4. Manage your stress
Learn to face difficulties every day, so that they don't involve food. By engaging in activities that help you manage stress on a daily basis, you can avoid feeling overwhelmed. By making stress management part of your daily routine, you can deal with psychological pressure as soon as it hits you, rather than allowing it to build up.
- Practice light yoga, meditation, and relaxation exercises.
- Try progressive muscle relaxation. Lie down and relax your body, breathing deeper as you release tension. Start with your right hand, contract your muscles by clenching your fist and then relax them. Then focus on the right forearm and then on the upper arm, always tensing the muscles and then relaxing them. Work all over your right arm and then move on to your left, work your face, neck, back, chest, hips, both legs and then feet. Eventually you should feel completely relaxed and not feeling any muscle tension.
Step 5. Accept yourself
Eating disorders are active protests in the face of denial of the needs of the emotions and the body. Learning to accept yourself as you are can be a long and painful process; appreciate the various aspects of your person: body, mind, spirit and emotions.
- Make a list of your positive qualities. You can be smart, creative, artistic, a math genius, kind, caring, and compassionate. Your contribution to the world is precious, acknowledge it!
- Fight negative thoughts about physical appearance by repeating positive affirmations about yourself as a whole. When you find that you are too critical of your exterior, focus your mind on the things that make you feel important and that are not about the physical aspect. They can be kindness, generosity, intelligence and various skills. Remind yourself that value is not determined by your appearance, but by who you are.
Step 6. Believe in yourself
An important factor in eating disorders is having control over the body's natural processes by consciously imposing oneself. Allow yourself to let go of your mind and start believing in yourself. You may have made some dietary rules ("I don't eat red foods" or "I can't eat foods rich in carbohydrates, like bread"), but try to challenge your own rules. Start slowly and stay focused on the goal.
