• Low self-esteem
• Embarrassment
• Lack of confidence
• Depression
• Fear of intimacy
• Loss of control
• Negative body image

However, many people who are underweight also share these same emotions. The struggle with weight may be connected to prescription drug abuse, but professional treatment can address both addiction and its effects, like weight.

Physical Effects of Weight Problems

Society is becoming more aware of health problems associated with being overweight, especially the following physical issues:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease and stroke
• Cancer
• Sleep apnea
• Osteoarthritis
• Gallbladder disease
• Fatty liver disease

However, being underweight is just as dangerous and can cause the following issues:

• An ineffective immune system, which increases the risk for infections and disease
• Increased risk of osteoporosis, a condition that reduces bone density and commonly causes hip fractures
• Anemia (iron deficiency)
• Loss of menstrual cycle, fertility problems and pregnancy complications
• Increased risk for health complications such as high cholesterol and kidney failure

Both of these problems can damage people, so you should learn if your prescription medication contributes to your weight problems before seeking help.

Prescription Drugs and Weight Gain

According to Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., Director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, the medical community does not understand why some medications cause weight gain, but they guess it has to do with the following factors:

• Insulin can lead to periods of hypoglycemia, which stimulates appetite
• Some drugs alter metabolism, which can cause the body to burn calories more slowly or to store fat more readily
• Some corticosteroids reduce the body’s ability to absorb glucose, which can lead to fat deposits and weight gain
• Other medications produce fatigue or shortness of breath, making users less active
• Some medications can cause water retention

If you suffer with weight gain, speak to your physician about your concerns and see if you can use other prescription drugs.

Prescription Drugs and Weight Loss

Abusing prescription sedatives, such as Valium and Tramadol, can lead to weight loss. As these drugs depress the nervous system and brain function, they can also suppress your appetite. Additionally, many people who suffer with arthritis take non-steroid anti-inflammatory medications, which can also affect various body systems, and thereby weight. Lastly, anti-depressants can cause you to lose weight because some users experience side effects like nausea, vomiting and headaches, which stifle appetite.

Help with Weight and Prescription Drug Abuse

Many people avoid treatment for weight problems and drug abuse because they do not want to feel shame. Therefore, to be assured of confidentiality and to get answers for your questions, call our toll-free helpline now, because we are available 24 hours a day. We want to help you find the right treatment program for these issues, and we can provide you with options, information about insurance and resources to get this done. We are here to help, so take advantage of our knowledge today.

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Common Causes of Eating Disorders

Many people struggling with an eating disorder are also struggling with insecurity, low self-esteem, poor self-image or a desire to achieve an unrealistic ideal of outward appearance. Eating disorders are more common among females but happen to males as well and may be a symptom of living in a society that places a disproportionately high value on physical appearance. Many people learn to judge themselves and others based on physical appearance, and they may feel that they don’t measure up to the physical ideals they are constantly exposed to in the media.

Eating disorders are also often maladaptive coping mechanisms developed in response to emotions that are hard to deal with. Difficulty coping with feelings of anger, resentment, insecurity, inadequacy, depression, loneliness, despair, grief or a host of other emotions may lead to developing the habit of self-medicating with food or by controlling food consumption. An eating disorder may also be an effort to exert control over a life that feels out of control.

Treatment for Eating Disorders

Treatment for eating disorders usually involves the traditional cognitive-behavioral model of psychotherapy that is used in cases of addiction and mental health recovery. Counseling will address the emotional and psychological root causes of the disorder as well as the behavior that results. A good counselor will help the patient to do the following:

• Identify and address emotional issues at the heart of the problem
• Learn to understand how food is used as an unhealthy coping strategy
• Learn to recognize feelings that trigger disordered eating
• Learn to see yourself as a whole person and as more than your appearance
• Learn to accept your range of emotions and deal with them in rational and realistic ways
• Learn healthy skills for coping with stress and emotional triggers rather than turning to the maladaptive response of anorexia or bulimia
• Focus on proper nutrition, exercise and healthy weight management

Just as your eating disorder developed over time, it will take time to treat it. Recovery should not be rushed. Signs of improvement do not mean that you are “cured” and should discontinue treatment. Follow through with your therapist’s recommendations, and remember that therapy can provide the basis for an ongoing support system.

Need Help Finding Treatment for an Eating Disorder?

If you would like assistance finding treatment for an eating disorder, call our 24 hour helpline today. We are here to talk with you and provide resources for recovery. All calls are free and confidential, so there is no reason wait. Call now.

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How Food Addiction Develops

Just like drugs or alcohol, food has the potential to influence the brain’s reward system. Food can stimulate dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain, which in turn give the body energy, motivation and even feelings pleasure or contentment. The body soon begins to crave the effects provided by the increase in dopamine and serotonin. Food, then, has unconsciously become the substance that someone uses in for self-esteem rather than sustenance. The following are some of the underlying causes that can force a person to addiction and complete loss of control:

• Some people self-medicate pain with food.
• Emotional pain or trauma can cause a person to “eat her feelings.” Food can both stimulate emotions and also act as a coping mechanism for feelings of sadness or loneliness.
• People with a mental illness are more likely to develop a food addiction than those without one. For these people, food becomes the only thing that they can control. Food can also temporarily alleviate some low feelings associated with their illness and can calm feelings of anxiety or panic.
• Food addiction is also known to stem from physical or emotional abuse. People with low self-esteem tend to abuse food. Food can block unpleasant feelings and be used as a shortcut to false happiness.
• Food addiction can also stem from a body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which makes people obsessively concerned about and preoccupied with their body image.

How to Recognize a Food Addiction

To determine whether or not you need help with a food addiction, see if you display any of the following behaviors:

• Eat differently in front of others
• Eat alone or in secret
• Eat in excess and later purge or take laxatives to get rid of the excess
• Feel guilty, confused or let down after eating
• Continue to over consume harmful foods
• Eat when not hungry
• Eat foods instinctively when feeling low or depressed
• Feel better after eating

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be facing an abuse problem larger than you had imagined.

Food Addiction Help

Food addiction can come with serious health consequences such as obesity, diabetes, bulimia, and gastric anomalies. Treating an addiction requires much more than just dieting or cutting back. If you are interested in learning more about treatment for food addiction or other eating disorders, please call our toll-free helpline now. Our rehab counselors are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you may have and can provide you with all the information you may be looking for. Your call is free and can let you finally speak to someone who understands what you are going through.

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Possible Causes of Bulimia

Some risk factors for bulimia include:

• Pressure from the media to be thin
• Poor self-esteem
• Peer pressure

Poor weight loss tactics, such as starvation or excessive exercise, may prompt a person to binge, which can then lead to severe guilt followed by purging. Though this process may seem repulsive to some, this behavior is addictive, and once a person has experienced a binge-purge episode, he or she is at a high risk for more frequent episodes. Due to bulimia’s addictive nature, individuals who have struggled with addictions or who have a propensity towards compulsive behavior are at a higher risk of developing bulimia and may have more trouble recovering.

Potential Health Risks Associated with Bulimia

Though each case of bulimia is different, and some cases are more serious than others, there are health risks involved with all levels and intensities of the disease. Potential health risks and problems caused by bulimia include:

• Chronic gastric reflux
• Dehydration
• Hypokalemia
• Electrolyte imbalance
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• Cardiac arrest
• Constipation
• Infertility
• Dental erosion

These health risks make it crucial for anyone suffering from bulimia to seek professional help immediately so that health problems can be treated and further risk prevented. Also, proper treatment can help resolve the complex psychological issues at the core of bulimia.

Bulimia Treatment and the Recovery Process

Bulimia recovery is a long but rewarding process that involves various types of treatment. Individuals suffering from bulimia should first be evaluated by a doctor for an official diagnosis and so that any imminent medical needs can be met as soon as possible. Dental care may be necessary due to tooth erosion caused by frequent vomiting. Furthermore, a nutritionist may be needed to help the patient understand what it means to eat a normal and healthy diet. The patient should also attend individual, group, or family therapy. In a treatment center or rehabilitation facility, patients can receive all this care and more in one convenient location.

Due to the psychological struggles that lead to bulimia and the emotional toll the disease takes on a person, psychotherapy is one of the most important steps towards recovery. In therapy, patients resolve their inner conflicts and learn to accept and love themselves for who they are and with the bodies they have. By gaining a new self-awareness, patients are able to stop focusing on how they feel about their bodies and become engaged in the surrounding world.

Need Help Finding Treatment for Bulimia?

If you or someone you love is suffering from bulimia, we can help. Please call our toll free number today. We are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to take your call. We can answer your questions about treatment and recovery. Call us today.

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Anorexia Recovery Process

After any serious medical risks are stabilized and the patient’s basic nutritional needs are met, anorexia treatment consists of the following three main goals:

• Restore a healthy body weight
• Address psychological issues
• Eliminate destructive thoughts and behaviors to prevent relapse

Because of the mental and emotional struggles that cause disordered eating, treatment for anorexia is often a difficult process. Due to a lack of self-awareness, many anorexics do not understand that there is a problem with their eating habits or realize that they are underweight. Therefore, patients may be uncooperative with treatment procedures and unwilling to strive to meet treatment goals. Psychotherapy becomes one of the most important recovery tools, as it helps anorexics acknowledge their condition.

Therapists build a relationship of mutual trust their patients and help them understand and conquer their obsession with body weight. Patients may also be prescribed an anti-depressant to help with the recovery process. Recovery is emotionally trying and mentally exhausting, but the reward of a healthy mindset about food and the human body is worth the time and effort. Recovery from an eating disorder involves many changes, but ultimately centers around learning to love and accept who you are, regardless of your body weight.

Need Help Finding Treatment for Anorexia?

If you or someone you love is suffering from anorexia nervosa, we can help. Please call our toll free number. Our lines are open 24 hours a day and seven days a week. We can answer your questions about help and recovery. Call us today.

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2. Bulimia – People who suffer from bulimia practice a pattern of binge eating, followed immediately by purging. Bulimic people will eat an abnormally large amount of food in a short period of time, and then immediately force themselves to throw it back up. This can lead to a myriad of physical and psychological health problems.

Properly Treating an Eating Disorder

The first step in treating an eating disorder is to address the physical well being of an individual. For those suffering from bulimia, the first step in stopping the binge-purge cycle is to gradually establish a pattern of normal sized meals, and the encouragement of a healthy exercise routine. For anorexic patients, physical condition can be a much more serious issue. Sometimes, hospitalization is necessary just to keep a person alive. Eating disorders almost always go hand-in-hand with psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. Psychological treatment and counseling are of great importance when treating eating disorders.

At a professional rehab center, those suffering from eating disorders have the opportunity to work one on one with therapists who specialize in treating eating disorders. Group therapy is another major benefit of entering an eating disorder treatment center. Group therapy allows patients to share their struggles and experiences, which offers a view from the outside of what is affecting each individual’s own life. This may help some patients to recognize the damage an eating disorder can really cause.

In treating both anorexia and bulimia, family therapy is often encouraged as well. Family member’s attitudes toward a loved one with an eating disorder play a huge role in the success or failure of the treatment process. It is important that a patient’s family members learn how best to care for their loved one in the recovery process. For people with bulimia, psychotropic medications have shown to be effective in treating anxiety and depression, thus making it less likely that the person will relapse.

Get Help Finding Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

Are you currently suffering from an eating disorder? If you are, we are here to help you find the resources you need to get help now. We are available 24 hours a day and our number is toll-free. There is no reason to wait; call now and get help before it’s too late.

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Anorexia Nervosa

Description: Anorexia is both a dangerous and life-threatening eating disorder involving self-starvation. It involves extreme weight loss of 15 percent or more below the person’s “ideal” weight. However, despite physical emaciation, those suffering from Anorexia have a distorted body image and will convince themselves that they are overweight.

Signs to watch for:

• Refusal to maintain minimally normal body weight
• Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat
• Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced
• Denies the seriousness of low body weight
• Loss of menstrual periods

Dangers:

• Heart and kidney failure
• Muscle loss
• Death

Bulimia Nervosa

Description: People who have bulimia nervosa routinely “binge,” consuming large amounts of food in a very short period of time and then immediately self-inducing vomiting (or “purging”) to rid their bodies of the just-eaten food. They may also use large quantities of laxatives or even resort to enemas to empty their stomachs after bingeing. Since the large quantities of food they eat is rarely fully digested, people struggling with bulimia are usually of an average weight.

Signs to watch for:

• Recurring episodes of binge eating accompanied by a sense of loss of control over eating
• The person excessively acts to prevent weight gain
• Preoccupation with body shape and weight

Dangers:
There are many life-threatening complications brought about by Bulimia. Below are just a few of the more serious.

• Esophagus or gastric inflammation or rupture and dehydration
• Electrolyte imbalances that can result in heart failure and death
• Irreversible heart, kidney and dental damage

Binge Eating

Description: This involves recurring and out-of-control episodes of consuming large amounts of food in short time periods, generally long after hunger has subsided and well beyond being comfortably full. Binge eating may also involve feelings of loss of control or eating in secret.

Signs to watch for:

• Eating large amounts of food in short time periods
• Eating well beyond fullness
• Eating in secret
• Hiding food
• Excessive weight gain

Dangers:

• Obesity
• Gallbladder disease
• Diabetes
• Other weight-related health issues

Studies are increasingly linking eating disorders with substance abuse conditions. Specifically, Anorexia and Bulimia demonstrate a greater likelihood than the general population to also be affected by substance abuse or addiction. Many people struggling with Bulimia also struggle with conditions such as depression, addiction and dangerous impulsive or self-destructive behaviors like self harm.

Causes of Eating Disorders:

• Low self image/poor self-esteem
• History of physical, sexual or emotional abuse
• Depression or other emotional conditions
• Feelings of loss of control
• Family or relationship problems
• Culturally reinforced norms valuing physical appearance or certain body sizes
• History of being teased or ridiculed because of appearance

Eating Disorder Treatment

Early identification and treatment of eating disorders can reduce the likelihood of a chronic and potentially life-threatening condition. But don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the disease. Treating an eating disorder isn’t just about getting someone to eat normally. The most effective treatments involve psychotherapy or counseling, individualized medical and nutritional attention, and assessment and treatment for any co-occurring substance addiction or abuse.

If you or someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5635. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you may have about eating disorders and treatment.

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