Concept and What is: Anorexia | Psychology
Anorexia
The patient with anorexia nervosa is mentally considered normal, except in the vision that feeds on itself, which manifests itself in distorted, leading him to see fat and ugly, even when a lower weight presents to its own average. This disorder leads the individual to dramatically alter their eating habits and to use all resources to slim down more and more. To this end, he fasts, causes vomiting, practice exercises in an exaggerated manner, take diuretics and laxatives, all in the name of a standardized beauty, fueled by an economic system that elects as consumption patterns increasingly slender bodies.
The fashion industry also competes for that, are always privileged magérrimas models, and although it is changing their paradigms, faced with the constant deaths of models for anorexia, continues to produce clothes that induce young people and adolescents to seek a smaller weight. This influence of the media can be very harmful on the personalities that are forming, since teenagers are usually insecure, feature an ever-changing body, and seek a natural beauty that grant them a certain power and a place in the class, especially at school. Also part of the risk groups people who bring with traumas involving rejection within familial or physical and sexual abuse, and also certain professionals, such as athletes, dancers, dancers, gymnasts or models.
The rigid diet that Anorexics undergo causes a profound organic stress, and involves psychological factors, social and physical. This disease mainly affects adolescents females and young Westerners, but can also be found in some men. Is almost always linked to the image that the patient has of itself, the difficulty in interacting with the social – usually by finding lower than group – or work with your sexuality, more specifically if there are records of sexual abuse or any other physical or mental violence. This disease is very serious, because it kills about 20% of those who are affected by it, to the point of being admitted to a hospital-by extreme weakness, suicide or radical alteration of blood components.
One can question how a seemingly normal person can present this disorder, but the truth is that in front of the mirror she sees herself as really is, but how do you imagine it to be, or how you feel – in this case, obese and ugly-as much as others around her insist that she's very underweight. She is not considered sick and won't admit this possibility, much less consult an expert. The patient has full conviction of what he needs, and ardently defends his views in front of others. Only by its low weight and its behavior in a meal table is that normally it is identified. It is important to understand that the patient feels hunger, although they refuse to eat.
Anorexics can acquire a different palate and also create some rituals to feed, such as eating clandestinely. There are two types of anorexia – which involves diet and binge, in which the patient ingests the food until I can't stand more, triggering after vomiting, sometimes even naturally, due to excessive amount consumed. Most dramatic in some cases, the stomach breaks down all the individual eating. This disease presents evidence that can contribute to your diagnosis. The patient typically presents the weight 85% below the degree of normality, practice physical activities compulsively, denies being sick, women get at least three months without menstruating, because the reproductive system can be seriously harmed, there are reduced libido-impotence and other sexual problems in men-, growth deficiency, with skeletal malformation, depression, intestinal and renal damage, trends to suicide, profound anemia, problems in blood circulation, osteoporosis, dry lips, headache, among others.
The treatment of anorexia is very difficult, since it deals with factors of psychological origin. Besides, the patient has to accept treatment, whose success depends on their own efforts. After the diagnosis, the anorexic faces a therapy – both individual and familiar, if a less severe case. The families are very important in this process, because the individual requires a lot of patience, motivation, and all kinds of stimulus, besides the fundamental dialogue right now. There are no medications that effectively take the patient to have a correct view of yourself, or that you snatch the desire to lose weight. Antidepressants should be used with caution as they may decrease the appetite of the person, making the food intake. It is very important not to press and force feeding, except in the most serious cases; from that moment, hospitalization is needed and a feed through nasogastric.
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