Understanding Anorexia: How to Make Sense of the Eating Disorder

Anorexia is more common than you might assume. Yet, understanding anorexia and why people develop this eating disorder can be difficult. There are many assumptions about anorexia—why it starts, who can have it, and what the symptoms look like—and these assumptions can cloud our judgment of this disorder.

In short, someone with anorexia will develop highly restrictive eating patterns and become underweight. It can lead to serious health complications over a long period of time.

If we want to help people with this eating disorder, we need to know why it occurs, how it starts, and how it can be treated with group or individual therapy.

The Signs Might Not be Obvious at First

Someone who is dealing with anorexia and disordered eating patterns doesn’t set out to develop an eating disorder. Understanding anorexia means acknowledging that it’s not a choice, and it doesn’t happen on purpose.

It might begin with a diet that seems healthy enough or counting calories with the hope of just losing a few pounds. Over time, this can spiral into more harmful patterns. It’s easy to miss the early warning signs.

It Doesn’t Just Happen to Young Women

Although young women are more likely to develop anorexia than other demographics, that doesn’t mean that men are immune.

Anyone can have an eating disorder, and a small number of men do develop anorexia. It may be rarer, but this doesn’t mean that other groups should be ignored when it comes to understanding anorexia.

Social Withdrawal

In some ways, anorexia can mimic symptoms of depression. Many people with anorexia will withdraw from social life. This is one way of masking their disorder and avoiding questions about their eating patterns. They figure that as long as no one sees them eat, they can avoid any interrogation it might bring.

Over-Exercising

Not everyone with anorexia also turns to exercise to lose more weight, but many do. Someone with anorexia may combine highly restrictive eating with intense workouts on a daily basis.

This can result in drastic weight loss, and it can also be very dangerous—exercising when your body has no fuel to burn isn’t healthy.

An Attempt at Establishing Control

The key to understanding anorexia is recognizing that it’s rarely about food or weight alone. The problem usually runs much deeper than that.

Anorexia often represents an attempt at establishing control when life feels out of control. Someone with anorexia might feel like they lack agency in other areas of their life, but they have the ability to control how much they eat. For a short period of time, this might give them a false sense of empowerment

Media Exposure and Low Self-Esteem

The media often promotes images showing unrealistic standards, particularly when it comes to marketing products to young women. Exposure to media like this can influence someone’s self-esteem—they may question why they don’t look like these images and wonder if their life would be better if they did. Thought patterns like this can also contribute to the development of eating disorders like anorexia.

Healing Requires Treatment

If left untreated, someone with anorexia can develop other debilitating medical conditions. In fact, this disorder can even be fatal.

Still, every individual’s treatment plan will look a little different depending on their symptoms, the severity, and their lifestyle. It will usually involve outlining a healthy eating plan with a doctor, in addition to intensive individual therapy.

Some people with anorexia may benefit from going to group therapy or staying at a facility where they can work with others dealing with the same disorder. Group therapy can be highly beneficial—after all, we all need to know that we’re not alone.

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If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, you don’t have to suffer in silence. Contact me today to discuss options for eating disorder therapy.