Contents:
- Medical Video: It's Time to Talk About It: The Brain and Eating Disorders
- 4 Common causes of eating disorders
- 1. Genetic factors
- 2. Biological factors
- 3. Psychological factors
- Perfectionist
- Not satisfied with body image
- Having anxiety disorders
- 4. Environmental factors
- Stigma about weight
- Taunts around
- Feel lonely
- Professional or career demands
Medical Video: It's Time to Talk About It: The Brain and Eating Disorders
Eating behavior is deviant or also called eating disorder an eating disorder that can make you too thin or even too fat. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia or binge eating. These are some of the types of eating disorders that must be dealt with thoroughly so that no more severe complications occur. So, why can people experience this disorder? What causes real eating disorders? Let's find out here.
4 Common causes of eating disorders
The real cause of eating disorders is not known exactly. Because eating disorders are a fairly complicated problem because there are many factors that influence this behavior deviation.
Experts believe that factors such as genetic, biological, environmental, psychological, all of which make a person's eating behavior disturbed.
1. Genetic factors
Until now, the relationship between genetic conditions and deviant eating behavior is still being studied. However, experts believe that people who experience eating disorders may have a genetic different from those who do not have this deviant eating behavior.
In several studies, it was also known that eating disorders can be inherited. Someone who has a family member with an eating disorder has a chance of 7-12 times more likely to experience it eating disorder too.
2. Biological factors
Conditions from the body, such as hormonal conditions, neurotransmitters (brain chemicals), lack of energy or nutrients can also trigger eating disorders.
The study found a difference in the amount of serotonin (brain chemicals) in people who experience anorexia with those who don't. This difference is thought to make people who are anorexic able to suppress their appetite to the extreme.
A hormone balance in the body can also trigger eating disorders. One of them in women, ovarian hormones (estrogen and progesterone) are known to increase the risk of binge eating and emotional feelings for eating. So this hormone level must be maintained balance.
People who are malnourished also have an impact on the condition of hormonal balance in it, which can trigger eating disorders.
3. Psychological factors
The cause of eating disorders also comes from within yourself. Psychological conditions determine your satisfaction with your own body.
Perfectionist
People who are too perfectionist, especially perfectionists who are always self-oriented have a greater risk of eating disorders. People with this condition have high expectations for themselves, including their body shape.
Not satisfied with body image
Body image is a person's feeling towards his own body shape. People who experience eating disorders usually have a very high level of body image dissatisfaction compared to people in general.
Having anxiety disorders
Reported on the page of the National Eating Disorder Association, most people with eating disorders experience anxiety disorders. Signs of anxiety disorders that usually accompany people with eating disorders such as social anxiety, general anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder.
4. Environmental factors
Never underestimate your environmental or social conditions. The simplest factor is the cause of eating disorders that even appear as an initial trigger.
Stigma about weight
The message in the media and environment always emphasizes that being thin or slim is the goal. This exposure which over time increases body dissatisfaction. Over time this feeling of dissatisfaction causes eating disorders.
This stigma of weight has occurred from the past until now and has entered into the mindset of the community that thin or slim is the best. Though the body shape of a person has its own characteristics, not always the thinnest and tallest body is the most perfect.
Taunts around
The boos from people around about weight can also increase a person's risk of eating disorders.
Reported on the National Eating Disorder Association page, 60 percent of people with an eating disorder say that bullying about body weight greatly affects the development of their eating disorders. In fact, from ridicule or bullying about this weight can be the initial trigger for someone to experience eating disorders.
Feel lonely
Lack of social interaction or friends to interact directly also triggers people to experience eating disorders such as anorexia. Someone who experiences a condition feels less social support in his life. Over time feel isolated from the surrounding environment and anxious.
Professional or career demands
A profession or career that demands to be thin or has a certain weight will also make people try as hard as possible on a strict diet. For example as a model, ballerina, or sportsman in need need a lean body, such as rowing, diving, gymnastics, long-distance runners.
