Sleep Disorder
Sleep disorder is an anxiety disorder that affects sleep. It causes abnormal sleep patterns resulting to sleep disruption, deprivation and sleeplessness (insomnia). Sleep disorder can get in the way of normal bodily function. Physical and mental exhaustion are common indication that the body is not at its optimum level.
Tell-tale signs of sleep disorder are more obvious than other forms of anxiety disorders. Symptoms include episodes of emotional outburst, irritability, feeling and looking tired and slow in reacting to people and situations. They all lead to more serious problems such as sleepwalking and narcolepsy, snoring and sleep apnea. All are equally dangerous and life threatening and should be controlled or stop.
Eating Disorder
An eating disorder is linked to obsession with body weight and food intake. People who have an eating disorder push the limit of eating and exercising beyond normal boundaries. They may fast or severely restrict their calorie intake, exercise for hours on end of each day or take other actions in order to prevent weight gain. They have intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even thought they are underweight. Eating disorders are serious health conditions that can result to death. The most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
For people with anxiety disorders, having a co-occurring eating disorder may make their symptoms worse and recovery more difficult. This makes it essential to be treated for both disorders.
Anorexia Nervosa
Fear of society accepted standards on physical attributes and pressure by society to maintain a certain look can provoke someone to become obsessed about physical outlook. People who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa visualize that they suffer from obesity when in actuality they are deteriorating in weight. They engage in extreme exercise regime and diet to keep their imaginary weight down. Food obsession and peculiar and disturbing habits such as forced vomiting and abusing laxatives after indulging in a huge meal in within short intervals (known as binge eating) are all attributes of this disorder. Mealtime become a battle ground for refusing food or selecting only a small portion of available choices.
Symptoms include sudden weight loss, noticeable physical changes such as losing muscle mass, and absence of menstrual periods (for women).
Bulimia Nervosa
People who have Bulimia Nervosa indulge in food and binge eating within a short interval and flushing it down by vomiting or purging to stop weight gain. They also result to starvation and usage of drugs to lose weight faster. They remain within the same weight due to the amount of food intake that occurs every few hours. All this peculiar habits are done discreetly till discovered by family members or friends.
Binge Eating Disorder
People with binge-eating disorder experience episodes of out-of-control eating, with the same kinds of binge-eating symptoms as those with bulimia. The main difference is that individuals with binge-eating disorder do not purge their bodies of excess calories. Therefore, many with the disorder are overweight for their age and height.
The binge-eating episodes are associated with at least three of the following:
• Eating much rapidly than normal
• Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
• Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry
• Eating alone because of being embarrassed by the amount of food
he or she is eating
• Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or guilty after
overeating
Binge-eating occurs, on average, at least two days a week for six months. Feelings of self-disgust and shame associated with this illness can lead to bingeing again, creating a cycle of binge eating.