They are obsessed enough to measure pasta in centimeters and then eat it!

Eating disorders begin in adolescence which physical appearance becomes important due to the nature of the adolescence. Since a child socializes, the child cares more about their physical appearance due to the environment factors and their friends. Noting that the parental effect is much more prominent in these types of disorders, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said that Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and other types of eating disorders are related to the inability to meet emotional needs during childhood. Tarhan said that there are children who do not like their own body image in the background of eating disorders and said that these people perceive themselves so overweight even though they are thin, and even they can be obsessed enough to measure pas in cm and then eat it.

Just as diseases occur when protein, carbohydrate or vitamins are not taken, people get sick when emotional needs are not met. In anorexia nervosa which is a kind of eating disorder, people perceive that they look beautiful even though they weight 29-30 kgs, and they have a fear of getting fat. President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan gave important information on different eating disorders and their causes.

They are obsessed enough to measure pasta in cm and eat it

Stating that anorexia nervosa patients constantly look in the mirror and restrict eating for fear of gaining weight, Tarhan said that "In this way, they live by devoting 50 minutes of 60 minutes of their time to their physical appearance. Even they can put themselves into such a destructive starvation that they might result in death. In the background of eating disorders, there are body image disorders, that is, children who do not like their own body because weight gain and body perception are distorted, and they perceive themselves as overweight even though they are thin. They constantly look in the mirror, they want to eat alone, and they hide their food. Their mood swings are too much, they avoid socializing, and they especially do not want to enter the dining environment. They are overly focused on the nutritional content of food. They are obsessed enough to measure and eat pasta almost in cm. In the Bulimic type eating disorder of anorexia nervosa, there is a vomiting and compensatory behavior that goes after eating. They exercise excessively. Nowadays it has become very common, especially in places where there is an influence of western modernity. Although it is less common in Eastern societies, its proportion in society has been affected globally by the influence of communication and media.”. Tarhan also noted that 15% of these cases resulted in death.

It is seen as Bigorexia in men

"The equivalent of anorexia in boys is called Bigorexia. Thus, we can define it as the feeling of 'I need to have the perfect muscular appearance, stay thin and be lean'. This is a bit more of a male-type eating disorder. These people spend most of their time in the gym, doing sports and heavy exercises to the death, taking supplementary drugs.".

Eating disorders appear in children whose emotional needs are not met

Emphasizing that the mother-child relationship is more prominent in these disorders, Tarhan said that "Since the most glorified thing at home is food, the child who turns to the opposite with the discussion such as 'You did not eat'. When we look at the families of individuals who have experienced emotional neglect during childhood, they run behind them with a plate in their hands, feed them, make them drink, but there is no emotional transfer in the child. In a child whose emotional needs are not met, both love and anger towards the mother develop, and anxious attachment occurs, not secure. In such cases, the child imprisons the anger against the mother in their body to relieve their anger and does not show it very clearly. The child punishes themselves, and they take revenge on the mother. As long as the mother says 'eat', the child does not eat. They tease their mother, and they like it. They expres anger that he cannot show directly in the form of a passive-aggressive reaction by indirectly making their mother angry. This child, who wants to play and talk with their family, fills the feeling of emptiness in them with food, sometimes even this attitude goes as far as obesity. Some even begin to use violence against parents after puberty. Even if the child is not prone to crime, they react to the same way that a cat jumps when it is cornered."

If you look good, you are valuable, and if you do not look good, you are worthless

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said that physical appearance is accepted as a measure of worthiness, especially in girls, and added: "If they are overweight, the child is shamed. They are taught a sense of worthlessness by saying 'you look ugly, you don’t take care of yourself'. In Japanese societies, success is a measure of value because a person is taught that 'if you fail, you are worthless', one who fails goes as far as suicide. In Western societies, they are taught that "If you are not beautiful, you are worthless.". Social media also affects the perception of physical appearance a lot. Especially, the expectation of receiving appreciation becomes directly proportional to the value that the person gives to themselves. Like 'If I get a lot of likes, I am valuable, if I get little, I am worthless'... Eating habits are very closely related to the way you look good on social media. It is kind of like 'fetishism' that glorifies looking good. If you look good, you are valuable, and if you do not look good, you are worthless...".

First, brain chemistry is corrected

Tarhan drew attention to the necessity of applying a 3-staged treatment in anorexia nervosa and stated that “There are things that the doctor, the patient and the family will do for the treatment. First, we look at people's brain function because the brain's body perception deteriorates, and there is no longer a feeling of hunger in the brain. Chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine decrease. Hormones and the immune system are disrupted, and they are weakened and often get sick. They do not feel hunger, satiety and the need to eat. Magnetic treatments are applied according to the severity of the disease. After the brain chemistry is corrected and reaches a certain point, family therapies begin.".

Anorexia Nervosa is a family disease

Tarhan explained the importance of family in the treatment as follows: "When we look at the family side, they make mistakes with good intentions. We are also working on this situation. Anorexia Nervosa is a family disease. If we do not address the family and go through the person, the disease recurs again when the person enters the same environment. If the family is open to change, we get very good results quickly and easily. I have seen a lot of time that even the most severe case of anorexia has improved with 6 months of treatment. Some patients even start to say, 'Why did I think such ridiculous things' after treatment.".

Anorexia Nervosa should not be thought as a deadly disease

President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan completed his remarks by noting that Anorexia Nervosa is a chronic disease that does not resolve spontaneously and requires a patient treatment process and said that “When patients are left without treatment, they turn into individuals who live their lives as a lost cause. If the person does not receive treatment, there is possibility of recurrence. We follow up for 2 to 5 years after the treatment. If the treatment continues in its normal course, there is no possibility of recurrence because the brain automates normal life. What is likely to occur in other people also becomes possible for the patient. Therefore, it is necessary not to think that ‘Anorexia Nervosa is a deadly disease. If the treatment is carried out exactly according to the book, the person does not develop wrong coping strategies to overcome the negative feelings about the disease. A person is learning to manage feelings of self-harm such as anger and hostility. If a person feels distress, fear, loneliness and same, we apply a therapy technique called ‘Cognitive Emotion Regulation’ method. With this technique, the person learns to manage their negative emotions correctly and does not recur the diseases.”.

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)