Food: Bulimia Nervosa and Professional Help Essay

Submitted By Micaela10
Words: 613
Pages: 3

You walk into a room full of skinny room of people. You may ask yourself, “How is everyone in this room skinny?” or “How can I be skinny like them?” These people aren't ordinary skinny people. They have a dangerous eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. Although there are some things that all eating disorders have in common, bulimia and anorexia are also different in several ways. Anorexia nervosa is a type of eating disorder when people have fear of gaining weight. They severely limit the amount of food they eat and become dangerously thin. It is becoming more common for girls to become anorexic in early teen years. Statistics show that seventy-eight percent of 18-year-old girls say that they are unhappy with their body (Editor). In order to become thinner immediately they limit themselves to eating. Girls become anorexic because they have a disorted body image. There are many reasons why people become anorexic. Some reasons are because people in their family may have had this eating disorder. Other reasons are having a job or a sport that stresses body size such as ballet, modeling, or gymnastics. Another reason is because some people try to be perfect all the time, others never feel good about themselves, or worry about there body image a lot. Anorexia also has unhealthy side effects. One side effect is when your body doesn't get enough fuel it needs to function normally, it goes into starvation mode and slows down to conserve energy. Essentially your body begins to consume itself. If self-starvation continues, medical complications and your body and mind pay the price. There are some steps to cure anorexia nervosa. Admit there is a problem, talk to someone, stay away from people, places, activities that trigger your obsession with being thin, and the final step is to seek professional help. These are ways to cure anorexia nervosa. Another eating disorder is bulimia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa is a eating disorder characterized by binge eating to lose weight or stay thin. After a person eats what they did, the panic sets in and they either have to physically eliminate the food by throwing up, exercise, or use laxatives, enemas, etc. Other people with this eating disorder make up their binges by fasting, or going on crash diets that also qualifies as bulimia. This is what is known as bulimia nervosa.