EATING DISORDERS IN TEENS AND THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS

Eating disorders are serious mental health disorders. They involve severe problems with your thoughts about food as well as eating behaviours. You may eat much less or much more than you need, to put it casually. Eating disorders are medical conditions that are not a lifestyle choice. They affect your body’s ability to get proper nutrition. It can lead to health issues, such as heart and kidney problems, or sometimes even death. Treatment, however, can help in some cases.

TEENS AND EATING DISORDERS

Eating disorders are complex illnesses that have been affecting adolescents with an increasing frequency. They rank as the third most common chronic illness in adolescent females. Two major subgroups of the disorders are recognized: a restrictive form, in which food intake is severely limited (anorexia nervosa), and a bulimic form, in which binge eating episodes result in attempts to minimize the effects of overeating via vomiting, catharsis, exercise or fasting (bulimia nervosa). Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa can be associated with major biological, psychological and sociological morbidity, and significant mortality.

RISK FACTORS FOR EATING DISORDERS IN TEENS

Although there is a media-driven correlation between the desire for the “ideal” body and eating disorders, there remains no consensus regarding the precise cause of eating disorders.

Being a long-studied area of medical and mental health research, eating disorders can result from a ranging number of biological, social, behavioural, genetic, or environmental factors. Teenagers are the age population most susceptible to eating disorders. Teens also tend to deal with the most detrimental side effects of eating disorders as adolescence is a period of rapid growth and maturation, and malnutrition and vitamin deficiencycan interfere with normal development. While any teen can acquire an eating disorder, certain identifiable factors make it more likely to occur forsome.

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF EATING DISORDERS

Many people with eating disorders have other mental health conditions, like depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. Mental health conditions can appear before, during, or after an eating disorder. Sometimes, these are referred to as “co-occurring” when they happen simultaneously. It’s uncertain how eating disorders interact with other mental health conditions — whether one causes the other, or vice versa. These disorders may be connected to the brain. It’s also possible that the physical and behavioural changes of one condition could be a risk factor for another. But the study shows: Depression, anxiety, and other conditions are common in people with eating disorders. In one research of people hospitalized with an eating disorder, 94% had a mood disorder (like depression), and 56% had an anxiety disorder. Personality disorders, OCD, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also common in people with eating disorders. And 25% of people with an eating disorder have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Because eating disorders can be so fatal, it is important to seek help if you or a loved one thinks that you might have a problem. Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms. It is important, to be honest about your eating and exercise behaviours so your provider can help you.

• A physical exam

• Blood or urine tests to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms

• Other tests to see whether you have any other health problems caused by the eating disorder. These can include kidney function tests and an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG).