Like most things, obesity is a complex phenomenon about which it is dangerous to generalize. What is true for one person is not necessarily true for the next. Some who are determined to lose weight may sacrifice their health by starving. This is an eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. Obese people are more prone to anorexia.
What is anorexia?
Anorexia is an emotional sickness where people are at least 20% under weight. Anorexia is when the people feel fat but they are dieting and losing weight quickly. Individuals with anorexia often control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs.
What is the psychology of anorectics?
A person with anorexia nervosa may define obesity as a weight gain of five pounds, from 89 to 94. Anorexics have an intense fear of becoming fat. Their dieting habits develop from this fear. Anorexia mainly affects adolescent girls.
People with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even after they become extremely thin, are very ill or near death. Often they will develop strange eating habits such as refusing to eat in front of other people. Sometimes the individuals will prepare big meals for others while refusing to eat any of it.
Treatment
The first line treatment for anorexia is usually focused on immediate weight gain, especially with those who have particularly serious conditions that require hospitalization. A recent clinical review has suggested that psychotherapy is an effective form of treatment and can lead to restoration of weight, return of menses among female patients, and improved psychological and social functioning when compared to simple support or education programmes.
Drug treatments, such as SSRI or other antidepressant medication, have not been found to be generally effective for either treating anorexia,[40] or preventing relapse[41] although it has also been noted that there is a lack of adequate research in this area. It is common, however, for antidepressants to be prescribed, often with the intent of trying to treat the associated anxiety and depression.
