Anorexia is loneliness – believes prof. Katarzyna Kucharska from the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, referring to the research of the famous American institute treating eating disorders. And whether it’s anorexia, bulimia or binge eating – many myths have arisen around eating disorders. For example, that the family is to blame for overeating or starving a child. Professor Kucharska at the National Congress of Nutrition gave nine truths confirmed by science about these disorders.
- Prof. Katarzyna Kucharska from the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw dealt with myths about eating disorders at the National Congress on Nutrition. She presented nine facts behind the Academy of Eating Disorders – an institute that has been dealing with anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders for 25 years.
- Over 70 million people suffer from eating problems, and 90 percent of them are women. Why are girls and women more at risk? Increased activity in specific regions of the brain, as well as hormonal fluctuations, statistically make women also more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, insomnia and eating disorders – said Dr. Maja Herman, a psychiatrist in an interview with Onet.
- – This disease is very, very lonely – said prof. Katarzyna Kucharska in an interview with PAP. She referred to a British study conducted among people with anorexia. The word most often chosen by patients to describe their disease was “isolation”
Who, how who, but Americans know the most about eating disorders. After all, it is in the USA that the most obese people live. And the fashion for a perfect fit figure, which has reached Poland only in recent years, has led many people to obsessive use of slimming diets and the yo-yo effect (rapid weight loss usually ends with a rapid weight gain) and has caused complexes and frustrations related to the awareness that their bodies will never lose weight. they do not live up to the beauty canons promoted in the media. And it also led to an eating disorder.
No wonder then that in the USA (25 years ago), an international, powerful institute dealing only with eating disorders – Academy of Eating Disorders (AED) was established. Every year, the Institute creates reports that familiarize doctors and patients with the latest knowledge about anorexia, bulimia and other disorders (symptoms, treatment, prevention and education). It is behind the Academy of Eating Disorders prof. Katarzyna Kucharska from the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw gave theses that contradict many false information, sometimes presented by psychologists, on anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating.
9 truths of eating disorders
- 1. Many people with the disorder look healthy, although in fact they are very sick
- 2. Families are not to blame for the disease, but they can be the best allies for patients and therapists in the healing process
- 3. The diagnosis of eating disorders is a health crisis that disrupts personal and family life
- 4. Eating disorders are not a whim or a choice, but serious biological diseases
- 5. Disorders affect people regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, body shape and weight, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.
- 6. Eating disorders are associated with a higher risk of suicide and health complications
- 7. Genes and the environment play an important role in the development of an eating disorder
- 8. Based on genes alone, we cannot predict who will develop an eating disorder
- 9. A full recovery is possible. Early detection and implementation of appropriate procedures is important
– This disease is very, very lonely – said prof. Katarzyna Kucharska in an interview with PAP. She mentioned that research was conducted in the United Kingdom among people with anorexia. One word was searched for that would best describe the disease. That word was “isolation.” This is probably why over 60 percent. People suffering from eating disorders also suffer from depression or experience depressive episodes. Half of people with bulimia nervosa have thoughts of suicide.
Over 70 million people suffer from eating problems, and 90 percent of them are women. Why are girls and women more at risk?
– Greater activity in specific regions of the brain may, for example, suggest that women are characterized by greater empathy, better intuition, willingness to cooperate and stronger self-control, but they are also more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, insomnia and eating disorders – she said in an interview with Onet dr. Maja Herman, a psychiatrist. – Of course, these are only statistics, we do not rule out that many women have a more “male” brain and men have a “female” brain. However, fluctuations in hormones in women are associated with a higher incidence of depressive disorders, and more precisely, with the entire spectrum of affective disorders. This is in part related to the distinctiveness of the serotonin-dopamine-producing system, but also to the sex hormones, which are closely linked with each other, she added.
While there are many causes of eating disorders, one of them may be forcing children to eat during childhood. – You can’t see it right away. Problems usually appear after a few years, when, for example, our child begins to gain excessive weight. This is currently a very big problem among children and adolescents. The next ones are bulimia or anorexia; These eating disorders can also be caused by overfeeding earlier, said Karolina Mazurczak from the Nobody’s Children Foundation in an interview with PAP.
The child should be given food when he or she is hungry, and we as parents should recognize the signs that he is hungry.
– I work with teenagers who were forced to eat in their childhood. They are often obese people. They say that they were not hungry, but had to eat for their mother’s, father’s, grandmother’s, grandfather’s health, or they were scared that if they didn’t eat, they would be sick, they would go to the hospital. So they denied their inner need and ate, for example, out of fear – said Karolina Mazurczak in the interview.
Sources: National Nutrition Congress (Warsaw, January 25-26, 2019), PAP, Polityka Zdrowotna.com), (www.medexpress.pl), Academy of Eating Disorders (www.aedweb.org), MedTvoiLokony