Table of contents:
- 4 Common causes of eating disorders
- 1. Genetic factors
- 2. Biological factors
- 3. Psychological factors
- Perfectionist
- Not satisfied with body image
- Experiencing anxiety disorders
- 4. Environmental factors
- Stigma about weight
- Make fun of people around you
- Feel lonely
- Professional or career demands
Deviant eating behavior or also called eating disorder is an eating disorder that can make you too thin or even too fat. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia or binge eating. These are several types of eating disorders that must be treated thoroughly so that complications do not get worse. So, why do people experience this disorder? What are the real causes of eating disorders? Let's find out here.
4 Common causes of eating disorders
The exact cause of eating disorders is not known with certainty. Because eating disorders are quite complicated problems because many factors influence this behavior disorder.
Experts believe that factors such as genetic, biological, environmental, psychological, all of these make a person's eating behavior disturbed.
1. Genetic factors
Until now, the relationship between genetic conditions and deviant eating behavior is still being studied. However, experts believe that people with eating disorders may have slightly different genetics from people who do not have this eating disorder.
In some studies, it is also known that this eating disorder can be inherited. A person who has a family member with an eating disorder is 7-12 times more likely to experience it eating disorder too.
2. Biological factors
Conditions in the body, such as conditions of hormones, neurotransmitters (brain chemicals), lack of energy or nutrients can also trigger eating disorders.
Research has found differences in the amount of serotonin (a brain chemical) in people who have anorexia and those who don't. This difference is thought to make anorexic people able to suppress their appetite to an extreme.
Hormonal balance in the body can also trigger eating disorders. One of them in women, ovarian hormones (estrogen and progesterone) are known to increase the risk of binge eating and emotional taste to eat. Therefore, the balance of this hormone must be maintained.
People who are malnourished also have an impact on the condition of the hormonal balance in them, which can lead to eating disorders.
3. Psychological factors
The cause of eating disorders also comes from within yourself. Psychological conditions largely determine your satisfaction with your own body.
Perfectionist
People who are overly perfectionist, especially perfectionists who are always self-oriented have a greater risk of developing eating disorders. People with this condition have always high hopes for themselves, including the state of their body shape.
Not satisfied with body image
Body image is a person's feeling about his own body shape. People with eating disorders usually have very high levels of body image dissatisfaction compared to the average person.
Experiencing anxiety disorders
Reported on the National Eating Disorder Association website, most people with eating disorders experience anxiety disorders. Signs of anxiety disorder that commonly accompany people with eating disorders such as social anxiety, general anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder.
4. Environmental factors
Never underestimate your environmental or social conditions. The simplest of these factors is the cause of an eating disorder that even appears as an initial trigger.
Stigma about weight
The message in the media and the environment has always emphasized that being thin or slim is the goal. This exposure is continuously over time increases the body's dissatisfaction. Over time this feeling of dissatisfaction leads to eating disorders.
This weight stigma has been going on for a long time now and has entered the people's mindset that thin or slim is the best. Even though the shape of a person's body has its own characteristics, it is not always the thinnest and tallest body.
Make fun of people around you
Teasing from people around him about body weight can also increase a person's risk of experiencing eating disorders.
Reported on the National Eating Disorder Association website, 60 percent of people with eating disorders say that bullying about their weight greatly affects the development of their eating disorder. In fact, from the taunts or bullying about body weight, it could be an initial trigger for someone to experience an eating disorder.
Feel lonely
Lack of social interaction or friends to interact directly also triggers people to experience eating disorders such as anorexia. Someone who experiences the condition feels less social support in his life. Over time, feeling isolated from the surrounding environment and anxious.
Professional or career demands
Professions or careers that demand to be thin or have a certain weight will also make people try as hard as possible on a strict diet. For example, as a model, ballerina, or sportsman who need a lean body, such as rowing, diving, gymnastics, long distance runners.
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