Anorexia

Hey, today I'm back with a post on anorexia.

To those of you who are unfamiliar, anorexia refers to an eating disorder in which people obsess over their weight, to the point that they reach the point of an abnormally low weight. It is important to note that there is a female bias to anorexia; 92% of the cases are of women.

As a female myself, this is an issue that is quite close to my heart. Not because I necessarily have experienced this before, but because of how pervasive body shaming is among women. This is especially the case if you are an avid user of social media; seeing how your peers look in bikinis tends to blow a punch on your self-esteem.

Back to the topic of anorexia, statistics have shown that over 3% of the population of women have suffered from anorexia. Furthermore, other statistics have shown that people with anorexia are 56% more likely to commit suicide than normal people.

In terms of physical health, these are the kind of symptoms people with anorexia encounters:

- Brittle hair and nails

- Severe dizziness, depression, anxiety

- Cardiac muscle in the heart may be forced to be used as a fuel; this could severely weaken your heart

- Muscle becomes weak and wasted - making the individual feel tired easily and frequently

- Bloating and constipation can be common. This can cause one to believe that they are somehow 'overweight' or 'fat' which exacerbate the issue

- Uterus shrinks and periods stop - which in turn may make potential pregnancy difficult

- Skin becomes dry and scaley

- High risk of osteoporosis

So in conclusion, anorexia is not only bad for mental health but also physical health. And as we all know, the two come hand in hand; when your mental health is bad, it will drag your physical health down too. But the difficulty with anorexia, is that it is very difficult for one to judge themselves. In fact, it is a lot easier to help others than it is to help yourself. Thus, look out for your friends; watch out for any physical and mental symptoms.