Sunday, January 18, 2009

Typical Coinciding Disorders That Exist Along Side Of Anorexia Nervosa

Hardly any medical or mental health conditions survive as "stand-alone" illnesses.  For example, an individual that has been diagnosed with Major Depression is likewise in all likelihood to have a concurrent sleep disorder because of one of the symptoms of depression is insomnia or hyposomnia (excessive sleep).  Numerous times, it is difficult for a professional in the field of mental health to define which the underlying disorders are and which are the secondary disorders that are caused by the chief disorder.  It is often a "chicken or the egg" quandary.  At Any Rate, all conditions are usually handled at the same time.

Mental health disorders that happen at the same time with another primary disorder are called "co-morbid" disorders; "morbid" implying sick, or ill.  It is quite commonplace, for instance, to diagnose a patient with Alcohol Dependence (primary diagnosis) and a co-morbid disorder of Dysthymia, a milder form of chronic depression.  Both of these health conditions are addressed together; getting better in one condition means improvement in the other condition. The online address Obesity And Plastic Surgery will educate you further.

Looking specifically at Anorexia Nervosa as a chief health condition, let us look at co-morbid mental health conditions often accompany this eating disorder:

Major Depressive Disorder as demonstrated by way of depressed mood, social withdrawal, excitability, insomnia and neutrality in sex. 

Obsessive-Compulsive characteristics.  Anorexics are preoccupied by maladjusted thoughts of food.  They might compulsively hoard non-nutritional foods, such as simple lettuce or saltine crackers to prevent their starvation eating habits secret from family members.  Anorexics perpetually count food items that they allow themselves to eat, and compulsively check to be certain the non-nutritional food is still in its hiding place.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder.  With this health condition, the patient has an unshakable belief that his/her body is unthinkably atrocious despite hearing the truth in regards to their appearance from other people.  Anorexics are convinced that their abdomen, buttocks and thighs are fat and unappealing, even though these body parts may in reality be torturously skeletal in there overall look.  The term "flat butt" utilized by mental health professionals who treat eating disorders suggest a patient's totally flat buttocks, a sign of severe malnutrition.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Anorexics tend to abuse outlawed stimulant drugs to avert feeling hungry and to keep up a unrealistic level of energy.  Alcohol is abused for similar reasons; anorexics that drink in excess produce alcohol gastritis, an intense stomach pain that keeps them from eating. 

Borderline Personality Disorder.  A personality disorder is a mental health condition that stems from the fundamental character, or personality, of the patient.  They reverberate the patient's perspective of the world and their place in it.  Personality disorders are permanent conditions although their symptoms can be effectively managed.  The Borderline Personality Disorder's essential features are a life always in chaos as well as turmoil, history of suicide attempts, unpredictable and impulsive mood, deficiency of honest-to-goodness personal relationships, as well as a continuous need for "drama" in their lives.  Anorexics with BPD make regular suicide attempts, have really unsound personal relationships, as well as their chaotic conduct might try the patience of everybody who knows them.  A commingled primary disorder such as Anorexia Nervosa as well as a co-morbid personality disorder are referred to as "double trouble" within the community of mental health professionals.

Anorexia Nervosa is an extremely complex mental disorder. When you combine Anorexia with the enormous assortment of co-morbid disorders, and you can see how challenging the problem can be to treat. This is why only an experienced mental health provider ought to be the one to administer this kind of therapy. Anorexia is not for the beginner therapist by any means.

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