Individuals with anorexia may employ peculiar eating habits to cope with anxiety, stress and low self-esteem.   The restriction of food gives the individual a sense of control over their lives.

Anorexia can have a mixture of symptoms:

Food and weight:

• Changed body image
• Low body weight
• Extreme fear of becoming fat
• Excessive exercise or physical activity
• Denial of hunger
• Fixation with the preparation and making of food
• Obsessive, rigid or ritualized eating behaviours

Physical symptoms:

• Dehydration (loss of fluids)
• Being very thin
• Bloating or stomach pain
• Poor nutritional status
• Constipation
• Extreme tiredness or fatigue
• Constant feelings of coldness
• Body hair has become fine and feathery (referred to as lanugo)
• Brittle nails
• Thinning hair
• Dry and/or yellowish skin
• Fertility issues

Emotional:

• Mood changes
• Depression
• Withdrawal from family, friends and social situations
• Irritability and short tempered

The treatment of anorexia is challenging not least because the person struggling with the illness may not see the need for care and/or have an intense fear that help may mean having to gain weight.  Like all eating disorders, anorexia requires a comprehensive treatment plan that is tailored to each of their individual needs.

Initially talking therapies may not be appropriated due to the under nourishment of the body, specifically key organs such as the brain and heart.  Once this has been established other treatment options such psychotherapy can be considered.

This has the ability to:

• Sustain a healthier weight
• Explore and work on emotional issues as low self-esteem
• Process and reframe ingrained and distorted thinking patterns
• Develop and embed long-term behavioural changes designed to provide a healthier quality of life

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