Eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, etc. The causes of the disease are mainly caused by psychological factors, family factors, social and cultural factors and physiological factors. This article will analyze the psychological factors of eating disorders.
##Emotional Suppression Studies have pointed out that patients with eating disorders are often at a high level of stress, and they are not good at expressing themselves. emotions , swallowing your own and even other people’s negative emotions into your own belly. When emotions are suppressed for too long or are overloaded, it can easily lead to physical or psychological disorders. For example, research has found that when stress is too high, hormones will change, and our resistance will automatically increase. Coping with stress can only last for a short period of time. If the stress continues to increase and the time becomes longer and longer, our resistance will drop sharply and we will be more likely to suffer from some minor illnesses. Research has found that negative emotions are often one of the risk factors that trigger eating disorders. According to Hawkins & Clement (1984), we rely on eating to soothe ourselves and deflect negative emotions. This emotion-led coping strategy can calm our negative emotions in the short term, but many people with eating disorders mistake this method for a long-term solution and slowly turn it into an avoidance of the problem. This can easily create a vicious cycle. Patients usually rely on self-destructive behaviors such as overeating to alleviate their negative emotions. Unfortunately, in the end, they have more negative emotions due to body dissatisfaction and other thoughts. ##Distorted self-image Many patients think that their body shape and appearance represent everything, so they spend a lot of time in this aspect. In order to increase self-confidence and gain recognition from others, patients usually strive to pursue an appearance and body shape that is recognized by society. Some patients appear to be strong on the surface, but in fact they have a very negative evaluation of themselves and very low self-confidence. Therefore, they need to rely on their appearance and body shape to improve their self-confidence and prove their abilities and abilities. Strive for the approval of others. However, their self-image and evaluation of themselves are often distorted. ##Characteristics There are some personality traits that also put people at high risk for developing eating disorders. The most common ones are perfectionists. They are very persistent about certain things and have very strict requirements, especially for themselves. They limit themselves to reaching a certain criterion to be considered successful. They often adopt a black-and-white thinking model, that is, they believe that if they cannot do their best, it will be a complete failure, and they deny their abilities at every turn. It is more difficult for them than ordinary people to feel satisfied. So when life is unsatisfactory, they will shift the object of control to an area they think is easier, such as weight control. Therefore, some patients are very picky about their appearance, especially sensitive to relevant figures such as weight and size, and are not satisfied no matter how much they lose. This perfectionist and persistent character often causes patients to suffer from illness for many years and fail to recover. In addition, people who are often emotional and nervous, have low self-esteem and have negative opinions about themselves are also at high risk of developing eating disorders. These people will be more sensitive to changes around them. Some patients will be overly attached to someone or an environment. Once changes occur, they will feel a lot of pressure. You will also be very nostalgic for what you have lost, so you have to control your weight or eat a big meal to fill the loss and emptiness in your heart. These behaviors are also used to vent emotions, anesthetize oneself, or divert attention. ##Other psychological distress Eating disorders are closely related to certain mental problems, such as various mood disorders (depression and phobia). The simultaneous incidence rate of both (comorbidity) is quite high, and it is even difficult to define whether it is caused by Does depression cause eating disorders or eating disorders cause depression. Therefore, some patients with simultaneous disease can use antidepressants to control mood and overeating under the guidance of a doctor. In fact, anorexia or overeating is just a behavioral problem that expresses inner depression. Patients often choose to eat to vent themselves because they encounter some unpleasantness or troubles in life. In the end, it unknowingly becomes a bad habit and a problem. Vicious cycle. Since patients are involved in the process, they may not be aware of the relationship. The main task of the counseling process is to help patients understand the root causes of their illnesses over the years and solve the most fundamental problems. Another common co-occurring condition (comorbidity) is obsessive-compulsive disorder. Patients often force themselves to perform behaviors that comfort them, most notably behaviors related to weight control. Some patients force themselves to wash their hands, brush their teeth, or count numbers (such as counting calories). This is because they are in an extremely uneasy mood and need to rely on repeated behaviors to eliminate their uneasiness and ease their nervousness and fear. > Free Online Psychological Test > > Mental Health Test: Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26) > > Test address:
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