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Anorexia & Bulimia

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Anorexia & Bulimia

Every night, in every country of the world, both males and females cry themselves to sleep. Some even wish they were dead rather than suffer with poor self-image and the belief of being overweight. People that have this problem may have a disease known as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia and Bulimia are serious eating disorders that have similarities and differences including symptoms, causes and treatments. Anorexia Nervosa is classified as an emotional disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image. People with Anorexia starve themselves to dangerously thin levels. This means at least 15% below their appropriate weight. There are two types of anorexia, restricting and purging. Restricting type anorexia achieves weight loss by restricting calories. This can include drastic diets, fasting and exercising obsessively. The other type of anorexia is the purging type. Purging type anorexia achieves weight loss by vomiting and using laxatives and diuretics. Many girls think that they have to be supermodel thin because of the media. When girls read magazines like People, Vogue, Maxim and Seventeen, they get the idea that they are not as thin as they should be. They develop a distorted self-image because they believe they should be what society wants them to be. In most cases, they do not see themselves as they really are.
Bulimia Nervosa is an illness where you compulsively overeat and frantically try to remove the calories from the body. The removal can be by laxatives, vomiting, and fasting, excessive exercise and crash dieting. In order to have Bulimia, you do not always have to purge food from the body. If you binge then make up for it by not eating for a long period of time (fasting), crash dieting or obsessive exercise, this will also qualify as

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