Diet Pill Abuse
Diet Pill Abuse
This book has examined how diet pills work and which herbal and prescription products are most commonly used for weight loss.
Disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and body dysmorphic syndrome may lead someone to abuse both over-the-counter and prescription diet pills. There are health and legal ramifications of diet pill abuse that are ignored or not even realized when abuse is taking place.
STATISTICS REGARDING EATING DISORDERS
Eating disorders can be broken down into four categories: anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and other disorders (such as body dysmorphic syndrome). Approximately 1% of female adolescents have anorexia; the mortality rate for anorexia in this age and gender group is higher than for any other psychological disorder, including depression. People with anorexia have different ages of onset of this disease. Thirty-three percent of anorexia patients develop (show signs of) anorexia when they are 11–15 years old; 43% of anorexia sufferers show signs of anorexia when they are 16–20 years of age. Reports show that approximately 4% of women aged 18–22 are bulimic. Females comprise approximately 90% of all anorexia and bulimia cases. Overall, approximately 70 million people worldwide have an eating disorder. Most people who have an eating disorders suffer from the illness for 6 to 10 years.
Diet Pill Abuse ANOREXIA
Anorexia is an eating disorder that mainly affects adolescents (most often, girls). People with this disorder have an intense fear of gaining weight and therefore limit the food they eat. Typically, a person with anorexia has an extremely low body weight and a strong refusal to maintain a normal, healthy body weight.
The body image of a person with anorexia is usually highly distorted— he or she lives in extreme fear of becoming fat, and is usually unable to recognize that he or she is thin, even dangerously underweight
Many times, people with eating disorders do not see a “true” image of themselves. When looking into a mirror, these people only see a large, fat stomach and heavy thighs. In reality, they could be so thin that they look like a walking skeleton; only in their heads are they fat.
Anorexia is a way of using food to feel “in control” when dealing with a tough situation. For example, someone may be overwhelmed by his or her parents’ divorce, a situation that he or she has no control over. Thus, by starving themselves, people with anorexia feel as though they are exerting control over their lives. There is no single cause of anorexia, and, in fact, the condition may be caused by a number of factors. This disorder often runs in families.
Anorexia can be a result of genetics alone. If a person with anorexia has a mother or sister with anorexia, he or she is more likely to develop the disorder. Often, family members criticize a person’s body and place a lot of importance on his or her appearance and diet. Another factor contributing to the development of anorexia is the culture of the United States, which places excessive value on extreme thinness. A person with anorexia has low selfesteem, which results in feeling bad about himself or herself and hating the way he or she looks.
Several signs may indicate that a person has anorexia.
These are often behavioral in nature, and include:
- Loss of a lot of weight;
- Often focusing on and talking about weight;
- Moving food around his or her plate, but not eating it;
- Refusing to eat in front of other people;
- Using extreme means to lose weight, such as laxatives or diet pill abuse or exercising excessively
- Weighing oneself too often;
- Acting moody or being depressed.
Anorexia can lead to serious health problems and ultimately affects the entire body. The following is a short list of possible complications:
- Inability to think clearly, moodiness, irritability, fainting;
- Hair becoming thin and brittle;
- Low blood pressure, fluttering of the heart, and heart failure;
- Anemia;
- Muscle weakness, osteoporosis;
- Kidney stones, kidney failure;
- Constipation;
- In women, lack of menstrual period;
- Bruising easily, developing dry skin and brittle nails.
The young woman in this picture is anorexic, and has become so malnourished that she must be connected to a heart monitor and receive nutrition through an intravenous line into her body. With medical treatment, her body will likely recover; more important, though, her mind needs to recover so she can see what she is doing to herself and understand what will happen if she continues to starve herself.
Diet Pill Abuse BULIMIA
Bulimia is a disease characterized by episodes of binge eating followed by purging (self-induced, deliberate vomiting). This process happens quickly; often the episode of binging and purging happens over 15 to 30 minutes. In addition to purging, bulimic patients misuse laxatives, water pills, and often exercise excessively. This type of behavior may occur approximately 2 to 3 times per week for 3 months. The fear of gaining weight is similar to that experienced by someone who has anorexia. People with bulimia feel an overwhelming need to lose weight, and most are intensely dissatisfied with their bodies. Usually, binging and purging are done in secret, often because bulimics feel ashamed and disgusted with themselves.
The signs and symptoms of bulimia are similar to those of anorexia. Other signs may include binge eating and inappopriate use of diuretics or laxatives. Cavities or gum infections may develop, or the enamel of the teeth may show signs of being stripped off, because of the frequent exposure to stomach acid.
BULIMIA
Idon’t really know how it happened. It had been a very bad weekend and I had come home, screaming at my mother in the car the whole way. I walked inside, slammed the door, headed for the fridge and took out a frozen cheese ravioli dinner, even though I really wasn’t hungry. I microwaved it, grew impatient, and ate it half frozen. And then I felt sick. I could feel the slushy tomato sauce rotting in my stomach. And I wanted to throw up. It was here that it dawned on me that I didn’t have to hope to throw up, that I could get rid of the food if I wanted to. I didn’t have to suffer for my foolishness. The idea started to take root and I remembered hearing friends tell me how they had made themselves throw up when they were sick before, and I remembered a book where someone had taken the wrong medication and had to get rid of it. And I thought it must be easy. So I went into the bathroom, tucked my hair behind my ears, leaned over the toilet, took a big breath, and stuck two fingers down my throat. The next morning, I had a bowl of ice cream, and as I sat there feeling stupid for eating ice cream in the morning,
I remembered what had happened the night before, so I went and got rid of it. And the next day it was the same thing, and the day after. Until I was doing it every day several times a day. And I thought it was wonderful. I had found a way to erase my mistakes. I could “get rid” of that which I didn’t want once I was through with it.
The doctors say this is why I am sitting in this hospital room.
This is why I am dehydrated and have been throwing up blood.
I will get better, but it will be a slow process. My doctors tell
me that I will be in the hospital for a few weeks to get better
physically, and then I will have to go to therapy to learn how
to talk about my problems.
BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER (BDD)
BDD is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that leads someone to have a preoccupation with what he or she perceives as a flaw in his or her appearance.Most frequently, the head and face are the primary focus, although any part of the body might be seen as defective. A person with BDD may obsess about acne on the face, too much facial or body hair, too little hair on the head, or having nose, eyes, or feet that are sized or shaped “wrong.”
When someone suffers from BDD, his or her social, academic, and professional life may be impaired. When symptoms of BDD are severe, a person might steer clear of social situations altogether, isolating him- or herself from family and friends. The symptoms of this disorder are not easy to notice. Someone who has BDD can easily fool loved ones and friends. Common symptoms include repetitive checking of the perceived flaw in a mirror, avoidance of being photographed, or wearing certain clothes to camouflage an imagined defect. Individuals diagnosed with this disorder
JEN
About 6 months ago, I realized that my daughter Jen had an eating disorder. I began to notice that during dinner she would not really eat; she just pushed her food around on her plate. She exercised all the time, even when she was sick. She became extremely thin; her hair was brittle and thinning. Jen was moody, lashing out one minute and crying the next. I did not know how to help her at all. At first, I really did not do anything because I was frightened to do so—I did not want to put any more stress on her. Then, one day at school, she passed out. The doctors in the emergency room said she needed help, and recommended a program that would keep her in a treatment hospital for 1 month. It killed me inside to do this to her, but after reading and hearing about the possible outcomes of this disorder, such as death, I knew it had to be done and it was the right thing.
Even though Jen was angry with me for a long time, she finally
realized that she was slowly killing herself, and eventually she
thanked me. She still sees a psychiatrist for her eating disorder,
and may have to do so for a long time. She is safe and healthy
again, but the road to recovery for this disorder is a rocky one.
BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER
I hate my body. My nose is too big, my breasts are too small. I am not old enough to consent for surgery myself, but once I turn 18, I will have surgery to correct my ugly nose and to make my breasts bigger. Because of these problems, I cannot get a date with any boys. Once I get these things fixed, I think I am going to have more selfesteem. I mean, how can someone with a big bump on her
nose like herself? I do not even want friends right now; I know they will not accept me.
My family tells me all the time that I look great. My nose is
perfect, and my weight is good and healthy. I don’t believe
them. Why should I? They are my family and are supposed to
say nice things about me. I know things are not all right. Every
time I look in the mirror, all I see are ugly pieces of me. I will
change them as soon as I am able to.
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