Note;an interesting article about Anorexia.
Being Ana myself;I cant say that I agree with EVERYTHING Anna Paterson says/writes but its worth reading.)




Article:What is Anorexia Nervosa?
(Author Anna Paterson)



Having previously been anorexic for 14 years, Anna Paterson wrote the book "Anorexic" to offer hope and support to other sufferers. Since then, she has also written "Diet of Despair" and "Running on Empty". She lives in the UK.

From personal experience let me try to explain what Anorexia nervosa is and how it feels to have this illness. Why does a person become anorexic? How is the sufferer affected mentally and physically? And what exactly is this inner voice that controls all anorexics?

Anorexia nervosa is not an illness about dieting. Weight loss is involved but this is only a symptom of a much larger problem. The sufferer has low self-esteem and wants to disappear completely. Anorexics see thinness as the solution to all their problems. Anorexics believe they are unlovable and think that if they become thin, people will love them.

As the anorexics weight falls and they begin to starve, their mind focuses entirely on food. Although constantly hungry, the anorexic must avoid eating at all costs. An anorexics self-image is very distorted and, looking in a mirror at themselves, even when they are skin and bone, they see a body covered in fat. Being fat terrifies them.

All anorexics are controlled by an inner voice that dictates their every move. This voice in their heads forbids them food, telling them they do not deserve to eat. Anorexics believe they are bad people and as punishment starve themselves.

Anorexics assume they are to blame for everything. They consider themselves failures and often as an additional form of punishment, will start self-harming, such as cutting or burning themselves. Their inner voice shouts loudly and persistently. “You’re fat! You’re a worthless, fat, ugly pig! You’re disgusting, revolting and hateful! Stop eating now! If you’re thin everything will be alright.� It is this all powerful voice that keeps the sufferer in a life long anorexic state, threatening them that if they confide in anyone about this illness, they will be locked in a hospital and force fed until they’re huge.

Anorexics are secretive and withdrawn and live in a world of fear. Petrified of becoming fat, they can never eat normally. Afraid to be a burden to others, they are unable to talk about their problems. As their weight drops the anorexics lose their powers of concentration. They can no longer sleep and become permanently restless. Anorexics frequently experience dizziness and fainting spells. For women, monthly periods stop altogether.

Once all the fat reserves have been used the anorexic’s body feeds on its own muscles. The heart is all muscle and can soon become seriously damaged. This puts the anorexic at risk of a heart attack. Multiple organ failure is common in severe cases, as is reduction in bone density.

Over 90% of the cases of anorexia are linked to abuse. This abuse can range from severe mental or physical torment, to bullying and neglect. This neglect, this lack of love, usually occurs in the first ten years of an anorexics life. Anorexia nervosa is a slow suicide. The sufferer is imprisoned in a nightmare world of terror. Food is the enemy.

Just a few of the effects of starvation are as follows:-



If you are female, your periods will stop as your weight falls below a certain level.

You will experience restlessness and sleep disturbance.

Poor circulation causes the sufferer to feel cold all of the time, the hands and feet can turn blue and chilblains are common. Gangrene can develop too.

Anorexics frequently limit the amount they drink and dehydration results with serious effects.

A fine growth of downy body hair (lanugo) forms all over the body. At the same time, the hair on the anorexic’s head becomes brittle, thins and may fall out.

The sufferer’s pulse rate falls. Body temperature falls and blood pressure falls often leading to dizziness and fainting.

Over time, bones start to thin. This can lead to osteoporosis in later life, and a vulnerability to bone fractures and breaks.

The stomach shrinks dramatically and the sufferer feels uncomfortably bloated whenever they eat anything, however small the amount.

The liver is affected by the lack of food and can no longer produce body proteins. This can lead to swelling of the legs and ankles.

The lack of food in the gut causes constipation.

Anaemia can occur and there is an increased likelihood of contracting infections.

Nerves and muscles can become damaged, which result in fatigue and extreme tiredness and frequent muscle spasms occur.

Headaches can be frequent due to lack of food and drink.

The sufferer’s metabolic rate decreases.

Kidney problems such as infections and stones are an increasing possibility.

Fluctuations in potassium can affect the electrical activity of the heart and brain, leading to heart attacks and convulsive fits.


ADVICE TO ANOREXICS AND THOSE ARE WORRIED ABOUT A FRIEND WITH THE ILLNESS

My advice to anorexics is that there is hope. It is possible to conquer this illness and lead a happy fulfilled life but you have to work at it. It is not a battle that is easily won. It is a constant struggle for a while, every minute of every day BUT the more you fight, the quieter the anorexic voice (that demands you starve yourself) becomes. Always, always take your recovery very slowly. Make very small changes to your diet at a time. If you try to change too much too fast, then you will just get very scared and scurry back to your eating disorder. Baby steps are the way to go. If there is someone you know that you can totally trust, learn to rely on their opinion for a while. You cannot clearly see your weight loss because of the distorted games anorexia plays on the mind of the sufferer. If someone that you trust is telling you that you are very thin and need help, listen to them and not the voice in your head that tells you that you are fat. Behaviour such as constantly weighing yourself needs to change because it continues to make your weight the focus of your day. Any variations trigger the voice into tormenting you. Your life and happiness become dependent on what the scale says. Try weighing yourself just once a week at the most, this is far more accurate and once again takes power away from the anorexic voice.

My advice to anyone who has a friend, loved one or room-mate suffering with anorexia is to try to always remain calm. Anorexia is a very frustrating illness and most people at some point or other try to force the anorexic to eat more than they can cope with. This just causes hostility, fear and anger to develop. It is important that the carer allows the anorexic to take things at their own pace. So long as there is progress forward, it doesn't matter how slow that progress is. Confronting an anorexic is very important if the sufferer is totally in denial. It is difficult for both carer and sufferer because the sufferer will probably get very upset and totally deny that there is a problem and will likely get very angry. Sometimes carers have to be almost super-human and swallow the anger and frustration they feel and keep calm. It is no good shouting at an anorexic to eat. They hate themselves enough as it is and if you shout at them, it just confirms their feelings that they are a bad person who deserves bad treatment. Kindness, understanding, patience and support are the best approaches to helping an anorexic.

MYTHS ABOUT ANOREXIA NERVOSA

One of the reasons I wrote my book was because of the how misunderstood anorexia actually is. It most certainly is not an illness of vanity, I am afraid that is a myth often spread by misinformed people. Over 90% of all sufferers have been abused at some point in their lives and it is this abuse that has caused their self-esteem to fall so low they no longer believe they even deserve to eat food. Anorexia is not just an illness of young people - many people that write to me are in much older age groups. They can hardly have developed their illnesses because of a desire to be a catwalk model. Obsession with weight, calories and food can develop as a way of escaping other problems. When someone has a problem that they cannot face or handle they can turn towards an escape route to help them hide away. Anorexia and bulimia are two such escape routes. As a body starves the mind becomes obsessed with food and all other problems apparently vanish because all you can think about is food. Anorexia is also often a way of showing pain - people who cannot openly express painful emotions through anorexia can show the world that there is something seriously wrong in their lives. Anorexia is a very complex illness and it is frightening that it is dismissed as the 'slimmer's disease' the majority of all anorexics have never in their life been overweight and the weight loss is just one symptom of a very complex illness.

How do I start to make changes to my anorexic behaviour?

It is very distressing that others don't understand anorexia enough. For most people food is an enjoyable part of the day and they cannot understand why it would induce such total fear in someone else. If you are a sufferer don't let people push you to hard too fast because it will make you defensive (anger the anorexic voice) and make you want to dig your heels in - well this was certainly true in my case. Take it at your own pace but see if you can make a little bit of progress each day, even if that progress is just holding steady on the amount you are eating. What you really need to try to stop is cutting down any further on your calorie intake. So if you are trying for two meals see if you can stick to this for two days on the trot, and if you can manage that, then aim for a whole week. Very gradually you can add small amounts of food that you feel you can manage. Remember baby steps are the name of the game. If you try to eat more than you can cope with or try to make changes that are too big then you will just get scared.

Are laxatives dangerous?

Many people with anorexia or bulimia take laxatives. These are extremely dangerous medications and I find it disturbing that they are so readily available from chemists. I myself took them for about a year, overdosing at least once or twice a week. My body very quickly became addicted to them and could no longer function on its own without them. Laxatives DO NOT help you to lose weight because they work on the bowels and once food has reached that point, all the calories have been removed by through the digestive process. What they actually do however is to dehydrate your system, removing all the vital salts and electrolytes like potassium that regulate your heart function. You can also risk losing your whole bowel if you continue taking so many laxatives.

Is vomiting dangerous?

Vomiting is an extremely dangerous behaviour and not an effective way of losing weight. Our bodies adapt to each new situation Once you have been vomiting for a while, the salivary glands in your cheeks adapt and start to absorb calories as you chew food, even before it enters your stomach. This does actually make vomiting a bad way of losing weight. It is also so damaging. Vomiting destroys your teeth as the stomach acid erodes the enamel and before long they are rotten. You also risk losing your hair. You are constantly risking internal bleeds too and most seriously of all, heart attacks. Vomiting affects the electrolyte balance in your body and this affects your heart rhythm, resulting in serious heart problems.

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Many people say that eating disorders are just teenage illnesses. This is another misconception and I am contacted by people of all ages. Eating disorders can develop at any age and older sufferers often feel unable to come forward because they feel ashamed of having a 'teenagers' illness. Shame (together with a fear of change) can stop sufferers from asking for help. This is why kindness and understanding are so important when you are helping someone with an eating disorder. Building self-esteem takes time and requires patience. Relatives of sufferers often feel frustration at how slow recovery can be. However, it is very important for sufferers that their recovery is slow. Changes in diet and weight need to be slow. If changes are made too quickly, the sufferer can become frightened and turn back to their eating disorder.

Wonderful article. Most of the effects of ana I can find in myself. Also, I like how she wrote at the end that anorexia isnt just a teenage disorder. I feel like all teh info out there on anorexia is geared for teens who have dieted and gone too far. In my case, I was a kid 11 years old, not dieting...and it lasted through my life, to this day. If I could tell people one thing about anorexia, it would be that this dosorder is NOT a vanity issue, but an issue of controll.

I like all the info, and I can relate to how she mentions that recovery can be frustrating, and needs to be taken in BABY steps...too much too fast is frightening and will force the Ana logic to take full controll back.

Thansk so much for finding and posting this here.

Love,
Dara