Anorexia nervosa is a eating disorder that affects millions of individuals throughout the world. Anorexia has no lines it will not cross and will inflict itself upon young women of all ages and races, as well as men. Anorexia is a disease, classified as an eating disorder, where individuals will starve themselves on purpose.

There are many theories on the cause of anorexia and weight loss is the most common side effect of anorexia. However, weight loss is not the only effect anorexia will have on an individual.

Suffering from anorexia, an individual most likely will develop drastic changes to their personality. An individual who is normally outgoing and considered to be an extrovert will suddenly withdraw into themselves and become more subdued.

They may suddenly have a difficult time concentrating and are in constant fear of gaining weight. Their diet becomes the most important aspect of their lives and the one thing they can control.

The massive weight loss that happens with anorexia can cause many changes to the body. Due to a lack of vitamins and proteins, the fingernails will become fragile, hair will become dingy and brittle, and the skin may turn a yellowish, pale color.

Also due to the massive weight loss, the body temperature will drop. This will make the anorexic more prone to cold. Once the body becomes too thin, it is common for menstruation to stop, as well.

One of the first systems in the body to be damaged from anorexia is the skeletal system. Most commonly, anorexia is found within young women at the time they are still developing. The effects of anorexia can lead to osteoporosis later in life.

In more severe cases of anorexia, there may be liver damage, as well as kidney damage, and an irregular heart beat. Cardiac arrest, as heart muscle deteriorates and weakens with anorexia, is one the leadings cause of death among those diagnosed, as well as pulmonary and renal damage.

While anorexia is a serious illness, it can be treated and it is reversible. One of the issues with anorexia is the fact that the damage can start even before weight loss becomes apparent.

In young girls who have been diagnosed, it will often have long-term effects on their fertility. If diagnosed early in the onset of anorexia, treatment tends to be successful. There are many individuals, however, that do not get treatment early enough and the results can be fatal.

It is important to stress here that there is no miracle cure for anorexia, it is not something as simple as a chest infection or any other viral infection that can be treated with antibiotics, and this is merely an option that might work after advice with your own doctor.

Psychotherapy is one of many options that are available to the sufferer of anorexia nervosa, psychotherapy is treatment by discussion, and there is nothing to say for certain that psychotherapy does or will work for sure but it is one option that is worth looking deeper into.

There are many different kinds of psychotherapy available which can be used as treatment for anorexia and for some people of the people who venture down this avenue psychotherapy does and has thought to have helped them.

Maybe it’s the simple fact of having realised and admitted toy yourself and other’s around you that you do have a problem. We all have felt the need or will feel the need to talk with someone at sometime or another in our lives, most often this has been for nothing as serious as what the anorexic sufferer is going through.

The relief alone that comes with just sitting down and talking is a great feeling, we have all heard the saying “a trouble shared is a trouble halved” just by knowing you are not alone in what you are going through is a tremendous feeling and a step in the right direction on the road to recovery.

Psychotherapy as an option helps by changing the anorexics thoughts; these can be about themselves for many people suffering from anorexia develop a hatred of themselves and also how the person thinks about food.

Sessions of talking with your therapist will also help you gain a better understanding of ways to cope in the future, making sure that once the weight has been gained and the person has made a full recovery the chances will be greatly less of them slipping back.

Psychotherapy is usually offered once or twice a week and the whole process usually takes at least a year to complete, though there is no hard and fast rules it is generally thought that for proper habits to become established within this person it unusually takes this length of time.

The Different Types of Anorexia Therapy Available

There are several different types of psychotherapy available, the most commonly used is family therapy, this is because anorexia seems to affect more young girls between the age of 15 and 18 than any one else, though it is not uncommon for boys and indeed older woman and men to fall prey to this disease. Family therapy will be deeper looked into in another article, other therapy options are:

Cognitive therapy

This therapy helps you change your negative thoughts and feelings by replacing them with positive thoughts, it helps you gain a better insight into yourself as a person and gives you back control over the person you are not the one you have become.

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Body awareness therapy

This therapy will help you gain a better understanding of how your body works and the negative effects anorexia has on the body. The therapist may give you exercises to do such as self massage; this is a hand on approach that actually lets you feel just what your body is like.

The anorexic thinks she is overweight, fat, but by actually running her hands along her body and feeling bones sticking out a better understanding is often gained.

Much research has been done on anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder affecting millions of people in the world. Studies have shown that many eating disorders, such as anorexia, tend to be more prominent in some families.

This research indicates that certain genetic factors may in fact predispose some individuals to anorexia. However, is blaming anorexia on genetics a cop-out?

Many of the studies on anorexia have resulted in the belief that there is not just one thing that will cause an eating disorder such as anorexia.

Many researchers feel that there are phases of the process in becoming anorexic. These are being predisposed to anorexia and certain events that may cause an individual to become vulnerable.

When these two things come together for an individual, they may find themselves suffering from the symptoms of anorexia. Being a woman between the ages of 15 and 35 years old will put one at a higher risk for anorexia, as well as having depression or anxiety disorders.

If one grows up in a family where body image is an issue or has not instilled enough self-esteem in family members, one is more apt to be diagnosed with anorexia. While many researches have felt that it is genetics that may cause anorexia, more research seems to indicate otherwise.

If an individual has grown up in these conditions and if certain factors in their lives join forces, they are more prone to become anorexic. Research also indicates that the genetic factors that predispose individuals to disorders such as alcoholism and drug addiction will also predispose one to eating disorders.

Much of the research as concluded that if an identical twin has been diagnosed with anorexia or another eating disorder, the risk is greater that the other twin will develop this, as well.

The fact is personality traits can be inherited and they play a very important role in the development of anorexia. Some of these personality traits include perfectionism, prone to risk-taking, impulsiveness, obsessive behavior, and low self-esteem.

While research tends to conclude that eating disorders do develop in families, the research is not conclusive to be in genetics alone. The fact is it takes more than one particular personality trait or one particular event to cause a person to develop anorexia.

If an individual grows up in a family that does not install a high self-esteem in them and is under the constant strain of watching their weight, they are more likely to become inflicted with anorexia, however, this is a combination of predisposed issues and the environment. While blaming genetics is not a cop-out, the fact is genetics is only a part of the cause.