What Is Anorexia? - A Basic Guide For Parents
What Anorexia Isn't

What is anorexia? There are many parents who think that anorexia is all about excessive weight loss and how to lose weight fast. We all know that the psychological effects of eating disorders, along with potentially fatal medical complications, make anorexia dangerous.

But, is it really about weight loss and trying to be thin? Does your child really not want to eat? I doubt it, and here's why...

Since I'm among the many anorexia sufferers, if someone were to ask me to define the illness, I think my answer might be a little different than the formal definition of anorexia.

Or maybe it’s not so different, but it's definitely blunt.

What Is Anorexia? - Is Death From Anorexia A Possibility?

Yes, death from anorexia is possible. You can die from this disease, and for a lot of sufferers, it's not by choice.

I have to say though - for me, anorexia was an unconscious, uncontrollable, slow means of suicide.

I know that might seem a bit harsh, and other anorexics may feel differently, but that’s exactly where my mind was at the time. I harbored a great deal of self-hatred.

I was engaged in a number of eating disorder behaviors that I didn’t become consciously aware of until just before I entered into Remuda Ranch, and my many treatments for anorexia.

Even though I read tons of information on eating disorders, articles on anorexia and had seen/heard a lot of anorexia news, it still didn’t click that I had a problem. I guess it was big-time denial at work.

I’m sometimes stunned with information on anorexia that’s going out to the general population and their perception of the disease.

When people hear about my struggle with an eating disorder, they say: “So what is anorexia, and why don’t you want to eat?"

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to eat, it’s that I couldn’t allow myself to eat. There's a big difference, and parents often miss this.

It’s a difficult concept get your head around if you’ve never been through it, but that’s one of the facts about anorexia.

Self Starvation - One Of Many Anorexia Symptoms

In the thick of my illness, I was in a perpetual state of self starvation, which is one of the many anorexia symptoms. To allow myself to eat would have meant a loss of willpower and control.

If I were to lose control, then I would no longer be "perfect". My starvation diet was helping me keep everything in check ... or so I thought.

There were other factors at work as well. One of the effects of starvation is that you become numb and devoid of emotion. When you're trying to block painful memories and feelings, this is seen as a huge bonus.

I suppose it's also another form of control - that is, controlling (or disallowing) those memories and feelings to surface.

It's incredibly complex, but I hope I've shed a little bit of light on the answer to, "What is anorexia?"

By now you may also be wondering about the side effects of anorexia.

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