Eating disorders are something which effect many people. They are where food is used emotionally, either by over eating or under eating. It can be a complicated condition to diagnose an treat. It can be split in to a selection of areas.

• Bingeing
  Binge eating is not always recognised as an eating disorder but as it tends to have an emotional basis it should be in this category. It often happens when a person feels upset, worried or perhaps just bored. They will eat an incredible amount of food in a short space of time. It will normally be high sugar or high fat food – items that are often considered to be ‘naughty’. They are eaten in a huge quantity to the point where the person will feel sick and may even be sick.

• Bulimia
  Bulimia is a condition where the person makes themselves sick after eating. It may be that they binge and then force themselves to be sick or just after normal sized or small meals.

• Anorexia
  Anorexia is where a person will eat very little. They will try to avoid eating as much as possible and may lose weight extremely quickly. They may become dangerously underweight.
  These eating disorders may happen separately or maybe combined. Often they start due to emotional reasons. The sufferers may have been at a point in their life where they felt out of control and felt that by controlling what they are eating, they are at least in control of something. It can get to the point where they feel they do not deserve nice food. They may not like the way they look and feel that they look overweight even when they are underweight.
  Helping someone with an eating disorder can be very difficult. Trying to force them to eat can make the situation worse. It is usually best to get professional help, but unless the sufferer recognises that they have a problem, they will not want help. They will have to admit to themselves that something is going on first.

• Treatment
  Treatment can be a long process. It has been found that the sooner the disorder is spotted and treated the quicker it can be resolved. This is probably because the person has formed a habit with regards to how they eat and they find it very difficult to break. There are a lot of professionals that can help but until they are asked for help, there is nothing that they can do.
  Treatment has a selection of steps. Patients need to learn to respect themselves again, to learn that eating will not hurt them and that they deserve nice foods and to get rid of any body dysmorphia that they have. It can take years of sessions and may be something that suffers cannot stick to and they may go back to their old ways. It is important for friends and family to be as supportive as they can and not judge the person for having the disorder.

Image source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reflected_sadness.jpg#file
About The Author: Anne is a retired medical professor. She is now a professional blogger who occasionally contributes resourceful articles to medisato.com