Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are psychiatric disorders that often start at a young age, mainly in the female gender, and can have very heterogeneous prognoses. The fundamental characteristic of the disorder is an excessive preoccupation with one’s own weight and physical form (often with dysmorphophobia: alteration of body image), with consequent serious alteration of eating behaviour. The resulting behaviours may be, for example, anorexia (food restriction), bulimia (binge eating with self-induced vomiting), or atypical eating disorder. Often the weight loss and/or bulimic behaviour leads to significant organic repercussions such as amenorrhoea (absence of menstrual cycle), osteoporosis (embrittlement of the bone structure), muscular atrophy (loss of lean mass), cerebral atrophy (in the most serious cases), electrolyte imbalances. These symptoms, although severe, can be reversible if the eating disorder is treated appropriately.
The causes of this disorder are multifactorial, and often occurs associated with depressive, obsessive compulsive or personality disorders.
The psychological and socio-familial aspects seem to have a great influence on the onset of the disease: the subject who is affected, faced with a deep malaise and feeling of inadequacy, finds “comfort” in the control of his body and in the attempt to be “perfect” according to questionable social and cultural standards.
Over time, however, inadequate food intake influences biological aspects and accentuates or determines increasingly significant depressive aspects, with “obsessive” traits (the person thinks only of food and body weight), and symptoms that can become “psychotic” (loss of reality check) and lead to even serious impulsive behaviour.
Awareness of having a dietary problem is low from the earliest stages of the disease: for this reason, a dietary and psychological re-education of the patient is necessary, leading to the recognition of the problem and awareness of their suffering.
It is often useful to intervene therapeutically even with the family nucleus that usually does not understand and is often deeply emotionally solicited by the malaise of the subject affected by this pathology.
In some cases, where the biological aspects can be considered important, pharmacological therapy is indicated: often the depressive or obsessive picture present at the same time as the alimentary one (primary or secondary) is treated.
Eating disorders are psychiatric disorders that often start at a young age, mainly in the female gender, and can have very heterogeneous prognoses. The fundamental characteristic of the disorder is an excessive preoccupation with one’s own weight and physical form (often with dysmorphophobia: alteration of body image), with consequent serious alteration of eating behaviour. The resulting behaviours may be, for example, anorexia (food restriction), bulimia (binge eating with self-induced vomiting), or atypical eating disorder. Often the weight loss and/or bulimic behaviour leads to significant organic repercussions such as amenorrhoea (absence of menstrual cycle), osteoporosis (embrittlement of the bone structure), muscular atrophy (loss of lean mass), cerebral atrophy (in the most serious cases), electrolyte imbalances. These symptoms, although severe, can be reversible if the eating disorder is treated appropriately.
The causes of this disorder are multifactorial, and often occurs associated with depressive, obsessive compulsive or personality disorders.
The psychological and socio-familial aspects seem to have a great influence on the onset of the disease: the subject who is affected, faced with a deep malaise and feeling of inadequacy, finds “comfort” in the control of his body and in the attempt to be “perfect” according to questionable social and cultural standards.
Over time, however, inadequate food intake influences biological aspects and accentuates or determines increasingly significant depressive aspects, with “obsessive” traits (the person thinks only of food and body weight), and symptoms that can become “psychotic” (loss of reality check) and lead to even serious impulsive behaviour.
Awareness of having a dietary problem is low from the earliest stages of the disease: for this reason, a dietary and psychological re-education of the patient is necessary, leading to the recognition of the problem and awareness of their suffering.
It is often useful to intervene therapeutically even with the family nucleus that usually does not understand and is often deeply emotionally solicited by the malaise of the subject affected by this pathology.
In some cases, where the biological aspects can be considered important, pharmacological therapy is indicated: often the depressive or obsessive picture present at the same time as the alimentary one (primary or secondary) is treated.
