Anorexia: When Being Too Thin Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

Anorexia is often succinctly described as the urge to be very thin, but that is really just the tip of the iceberg. Anorexia is a very complicated disease, with a very high mortality rate. Therefore, we should never confuse this disease with the symptom.

Most people are not aware that this urge to be incredibly thin is a form of self-destruction. For many people, it starts with a problem they can’t control, causing them to subconsciously use their diet, something they can control, to protect themselves from their fears and defenselessness. People who suffer from anorexia have a need to find positive reinforcement in their own body image, a need they place before their own survival.

But why is this happening? Is it a mental problem, or are there other factors beyond the person’s control that affect the brain? In this article, we’ll answer these questions and explain why this obsession with being thin is actually only a small part of this disease.

What goes through the mind of someone who has anorexia?

People with anorexia consciously try to limit their consumption of food as much as possible, even to the point that some avoid eating almost entirely. The less they eat, the better.

Can we call this a mental disorder? In reality, this term can cause some confusion. What we are sure of is that anorexia is caused by compulsive behavior in which a person is very concerned with the consequences of eating.

From this we can conclude that the brain of an anorexic person does not function the same as the brain of a healthy person. We all have a certain system by which we respond to pleasure and rewards, which is very important for our survival. In the case of people who suffer from anorexia, this system has become compromised.

For example, every time a healthy person is hungry and eats, his brain produces a positive response. So his relationship to food is healthy. In people who have anorexia, however, something else happens, because they are unable to distinguish between positive stimuli and negative stimuli.

But that’s not all. Many neurobiologists have found that in anorexic people there is a change in the way the neurons that communicate with the part of the brain that senses hunger function. Strangely enough, this part of the brain corresponds to the part of the brain associated with our emotions, sensations and body image.

Hormones can also be partly a culprit. People who have anorexia have very low levels of a lot of hormones that stimulate our appetite and weight, which can cause a person to develop a serious eating disorder.

wanting to be thin

We have now shown what changes anorexia can cause in the brain, changes that can affect the reward system. But is that really all?

People who suffer from this disease often also have similar psychological traits, some of which are naturally stronger in some than others. They also do not always have to be present.

• Low self-confidence, which is linked to body image and unrelated to reinforcement.
• The need to have control over everything. They exercise this control over their bodies and food, the only thing they think they can control.
• A search for an identity, which makes them very anxious.
• Continuous mood swings that can suddenly turn from euphoria to depression.

These are some of the traits that people with anorexia may exhibit, but there are many more. As you can see, a person’s self-confidence is very important in this case. It is linked to other underlying problems that cause a person to feel the need to stop eating.

Trying to intervene without the help of an expert and with only a single strategy, such as forcing the person to eat, without thinking about other aspects as well, such as reinforcement, will only cause this person to have better manners. plans to hide his behavior and deceive you.

Perhaps it is a cry for help, or the manifestation of a deeper problem. It is almost never just a matter of appearance, whether or not to eat. Behind anorexia is a person who is drowning, who has severe inner problems that also need to be treated. Of course, a lack of nutrition can eventually kill them, but this doesn’t mean that you should only address this system when you intervene. Instead, try to deal with the pain that this terrible disorder causes.

Anorexia does not mean that someone wants to be thinner to look better; it means problems, insecurities, pain and sorrow. Not eating is just a way to feel bad, but still be able to avoid this feeling. This behavior is reinforced by a person’s avoidance of his pain, by isolating himself as much as possible from his feeling, as if his willpower is weak and he is worth nothing at all.

Because of this, people with anorexia eventually become as afraid of food as other people are of a lion or a snake, because they see it as the greatest enemy of the controllable world they are trying to build. A world where having one gray day in a series of only black days is their only hope.