Avalon Hills Blog

A recent study that was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found results that discussed the idea of various the methods of therapy for eating disorders.  It found that people who have different eating disorders may exhibit different brain activity patterns.

These different patterns actually related to aspects of a person’s eating disorder behaviors.  A person seeking anorexia treatment showed that the person often shows anxious and inhibited behaviors.  On the other hand, a person needing bulimia help was often determined to be more risk-seeing and impulsive.  This also matches up with the compulsion nature of bingeing.

This study contained a sample of subjects with differing eating disorder diagnosis or no eating disorder diagnosis.  The sample had 30 people with either anorexia or bulimia. This specific study didn’t test any people with other types of eating disorders.  Then 16 people that didn’t need eating disorder help acted as a control group.

The actual study involved subjects pressing a button every time they saw a letter, except for the letter “x.”  This required the subjects to show restraint by not pressing the button.  While the subjects did this the researchers scanned their brain with an fMRI.  They found that subjects with bulimia had to use more brain power in order to not press the button when they saw the letter “x.”

These findings lead the researchers to believe that eating disorder treatment methods should be changed.  Since a person with anorexia proved to have more anxiety it may be beneficial to focus more on the anxiety during treatment.  Then, for a person with bulimia it would be good to treat their impulsive tendencies to help them overcome the eating disorder.  It’s a way of personalizing the treatment to help the person overcome an eating disorder.

The difficulty with changing anorexia or bulimia treatment based on a new study is the results aren’t enough.  One study isn’t enough to completely change the approach of an eating disorder treatment program.  Another study that studied brain activity showed some different results.  However, the amount of subjects and the ages of the subjects were very different from the first study.

Avalon Hills supports all of the ongoing research in the field. The Academy of Eating Disorders and the National Eating Disorder Association are great resources for those that may have questions regarding eating disorder treatment and how research is developing in the field.

This month a study emerged that connects eating disorders with social networking websites.  The study was conducted by a doctoral student at the University of Haifa.  She asked adolescent girls about their habits.  There were a wide range of activities she asked about.  For example, she asked how much a girl watched TV.

The student discovered some disturbing information after doing the study.  Girls who spent a lot of time online looking at Facebook displayed more habits associated with eating disorders.  Anorexia and bulimia symptoms were the most common.  Many of these girls had also developed a negative body image.

The girls who participated were of different ages with the median age being 14.8 years old.  Young adolescent girls are not the only ones at risk.  Older girls can also be affected.  However, it seems the younger girls are more susceptible.

Another correlation was also discovered.  Girls who frequently read fashion magazines or visited a lot of fashion websites displayed similar symptoms.  It is believed that this is caused by the display of the “ideal” woman.  This correlation was much weaker than the social network correlation.

While the study discovered something important it did not give an explanation for why these girls developed the habits.  It is possible that the reason is similar to that of the fashion magazine reading.  These girls may be seeing pictures of their friends or just other women who they consider to have the “ideal” body type.

It’s important to say that the study found a correlation, which does not mean it is grounds for causation.  This means the two are connected, but it cannot be said for sure that Facebook is causing the eating disorder habits.

The study noted that there are ways to help the problem.  Parents are very influential with this problem.  In the study, girls who had some form of parental involvement were less likely to develop the eating disorder habits and seek eating disorder treatment.  This involvement could include knowing what their daughter is doing online or having conversations about what she looked at online.  It is a way of supervising her web browsing without looking over her shoulder at all times.

However, if a girl is struggling with an eating disorder it is important for her to get help.  An eating disorder should never be ignored.  One of the best ways to get help for an eating disorder is to go to an eating disorder clinic.  Avalon Hills has a separate program that specializes in helping adolescent girls.  Their unique approach to eating disorder help works to improve a girl’s outlook of herself while also treating the physical symptoms.

One of the most common and well known eating disorders that is very troubling is anorexia.  Anorexia is often misunderstood and hard to diagnose because most people fixate on the idea that it’s an eating disorder.  The tendency is to think that it’s all about food.  This of course isn’t true.  Like all eating disorders, anorexia has a deeper cause and deeper effects.

Anorexia is known to be about control among other things.  It’s used as a way to meet a need in a person’s life.  This is sometimes an emotional need.  Depression, anxiety or insecurity can often trigger eating disorder behaviors.  Eating disorders often develops through everyday activities.  A person may start to experience a lot of anxiety at work, school, or home.  While this person is unable to control the stress, they often find comfort and peace in controlling their eating habits.  This is one of the most common coping mechanisms seen with eating disorders.

Since it is difficult to diagnose the real cause of the eating disorder, people often focus on what is easy to see, which is the behaviors.  A person who is suffering from anorexia may have a severe fear of gaining weight.  They may be underweight and refuse to eat enough to maintain a healthy body weight.  Also, a distorted body image is a very common symptom and body dismorphic disorder may be diagnosed.  This is one of the reasons anorexia becomes particularly dangerous. A person may begin to become medically compromised as this happens.

Anorexia may present in different ways.  Restricting anorexia is where a person suffering may use dieting and restriction to lose weight.  They will often count calories and make sure to eat well under the amount required for daily body functions.  Using excessive exercising may also be used to burn off any calories the person takes in during the day.

Anorexia- purge type, although easily confused with bulimia is where a person may use laxatives or diuretics to rid the body of the food that the person took in.  The person may also induce vomiting or overexercise. Symptoms of this may include low body weight and bouts of restriction of food intake.

Physical anorexia symptoms may include drastic weight loss.  While the person is thin they will continue to diet and restrict intake.  A person may be obsessed and fixated on calories and body image.  Also, a person may be noticed playing with their food as a way of pretending or avoiding to eat.  These are just a few of the many possible symptoms of anorexia.

All eating disorders and their behaviors are serious, and anorexia should not be taken lightly.  It can be fatal if it goes untreated.  Even if it’s not very far along it can still seriously harm the body.  This is why it’s so important to get some form of anorexia help as soon as possible.  Avalon Hills cares about the recovery of those suffering from eating disorders and stresses the need for help. Those dealing with eating disorders are urged to seek professional help by an outpatient team or by an anorexia treatment center.

Eating disorders are often misunderstood because they are so difficult to diagnose.  Bulimia and anorexia are the most commonly known eating disorders, and people still misunderstand them.  An eating disorder is so much more than abnormal or unhealthy eating habits.  They go beyond the physical manifestations of the disorder.

Bulimia can be a little confusing because two opposites are present.  Someone with bulimia may have an obsessive fear of gaining weight, but they also feel a strong desire to overeat.  This desire often becomes a compulsive behavior.  Those struggling generally do not want to overeat, because they know afterward they may feel miserable.

Often, after a person binges they may feel panicked and be ashamed. This can lead to thoughts of poor body image and gaining weight. This is one of the reasons purging is so common with bulimia.  It is also important to understand that not all people with bulimia induce vomiting to purge.  Some will use laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or excessive exercise to purge the additional food.  Others may start to fast to burn off the calories.

Anyone in need of bulimia help may experience the bingeing and purging cycle regardless of how they attempt to eliminate the extra food.  The cycle will usually start with a strict diet.  This diet will start to cause tension when the body gets hungry.  Soon the person will be unable to fight the need for food and they’ll eat something.  This will often lead to binge eating because the diet often gets abandoned once it has been broken.  During a binge eating session a person can take in between 3,000 and 5,000 calories in an hour.

After the session the person will start to feel down.  Most people feel ashamed, guilty or depressed.  Not long after this the panic may start to set in.  They will then purge in whatever way they prefer.  After that, the cycle often repeats itself.  The cycle becomes incredibly difficult to break.

There are many different symptoms of bulimia because different people do different things.  However, there are a few common symptoms.  The person is unable to control the amount of food they eat.  They may not eat regular meals, and instead they eat a lot and then don’t eat for a while.  They may eat a lot of food without gaining weight, or they may have fluctuating weight.  Most people suffering from bulimia may have a normal weight or be a little overweight.  They may also exercise excessively.  Frequent and long bathroom visits after meals is a common behavior.  They may also have physical symptoms such as; discolored teeth and puffy cheeks.

When someone discovers that a loved one has bulimia it’s important to seek professional help.  Visiting an outpatient team or eating disorder clinic such as Avalon Hills are among the best options for treatment.  Avalon Hills urges anyone dealing with bulimia to seek help from a professional.