Celebrities with Eating Disorders

Medical studies have shown that eating disorders are affecting a larger range of people than before. Although we once saw this is a problem of young white women, 10 percent of the sufferers are men today. There is a substantial occurrence in black women and other minorities as well. Much of the blame goes to the ongoing cultural obsession with thinness. In addition, the non-stop parade of media images of stick-thin models and other celebrities as the ideal body types provokes this problem. However, celebrities also suffer from eating disorders.

What are eating disorders?

It is rarely mentioned that the effects of anorexia and bulimia go beyond a skeletal shape. These eating disorders can cause teeth rot and bone thinning, icy extremities, fuzzy hair growing on the skin as the body tries desperately to protect itself from cold, as well as esophageal, brain, and heart damage. It is also true that drug use and depression go hand in hand with eating disorders for many people. The most common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating, and binge eating.

What is anorexia?

Anorexia is an eating disorder where people starve themselves, which usually begins in young people around the onset of puberty. Individuals suffering from anorexia experience extreme weight loss, usually 15% below the person’s normal body weight. People suffering from anorexia are very skinny, but convinced that they are overweight. Some of the common techniques they use are excessive exercise, intake of laxatives, and literal starvation. Anorexics have an intense fear of becoming fat, so their dieting habits develop from this fear.

Anorexia mainly affects adolescent girls and teenagers. People with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even after they become extremely thin. They continue thinking the same even when they became very ill or near death. Often they will develop strange eating habits, for example refusing to eat in front of other people. Sometimes the anorexic individuals will prepare big meals for others while refusing to eat any of it. The disorder is the most common among people of higher socioeconomic classes and people involved in activities where thinness is very important, such as dancing, theater, and distance running.

What is bulimia?

Bulimia nervosa or typically just bulimia is a type of eating disorder. Someone with bulimia eats a lot of food in a short amount of time, but then they try to prevent weight gain by purging. Purging might involve making oneself throw up, taking laxatives, pills, or liquids that increase how fast food moves through your body and leads to bowel movement. Other patients may use some other ways to prevent weight gain, such as exercising a lot, eating very little or not at all, or taking pills to pass urine. People with bulimia may be underweight, overweight, or have a normal weight, which makes it harder to know if someone has this disorder. However, someone with bulimia may show certain signs, for example if a person uses extreme measures to lose weight, uses diet pills, or takes pills to urinate or cause bowel movement, or goes to the bathroom all the time after she eats to throw up. If a person is exercising a lot, even during bad weather, tiredness, sickness, or injury, shows signs of throwing up, swelling of the cheeks or jaw area – it could be a bulimia problem.

What is the binge eating disorder?

Binge eating disorder is a newly recognized condition that probably affects millions of people in America. People with binge eating disorder frequently eat large amounts of food while feeling a loss of control over their eating and overeating. This disorder is different from the binge-purge syndrome called bulimia nervosa, because people with the binge eating disorder usually do not purge afterward by vomiting or using laxatives.

Most of us overeat from time to time, and many people feel they frequently eat more than they should. However, eating large amounts of food does not mean that a person has the binge eating disorder. Doctors are still debating the best ways to determine if someone has this disorder. Most people with serious binge eating problems have frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food. They also have frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much they eat. These people commonly experience feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.

What is compulsive overeating?

Compulsive overeating is a very serious disorder which has an impact on both physical and mental health. If this condition is left untreated, compulsive overeating can lead to severe medical problems including high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and depression. Compulsive overeating can affect women or men, though it appears twice as often among women then men. People with the compulsive overeating disorder suffer from episodes of uncontrolled eating or bingeing followed by periods of guilt and depression after they overeat. The compulsive overeating disorder may cause a person to continue to eat even after she becomes uncomfortably full of food.
There are many warning signs that indicate someone may be suffering from compulsive overeating disorder. A person with this disorder may exhibit one or any combination of the warning signs. Becoming aware of these warning signs is the first step in helping someone suffering from compulsive overeating; the next is treatment.

Celebrities with eating disorders

Mary-Kate Olsen: Mary-Kate Olsen has taken every important step of moving from denial that is the norm for eating disorders, to getting help. Let us hope that her example will lead others to do the same because this is first and most important step. Her stint in rehab, reportedly for cocaine addiction, was fueled by her use of the drug to stay thin. It was her timely reminder of the depths to which anorexia can drive one afflicted with the eating disorder. Moreover, it is a reminder that there is nothing funny about anorexia and bulimia. This is important to know, in spite of all the jokes about various celebrities and their underweight shape in recent years.

Victoria Beckham: She has admitted for the first time that she suffered from an eating disorder. She made the revelation in an extract from her forthcoming autobiography, learning to fly. However, some people are saying that Beckham has denied that she had anorexia in the past. Beckham described her illness as being obsessed with her appearance. Now she has admitted for the first time that she has suffered from an eating disorder, after years of denial. She has admitted that in the early days of the Spice Girls, when they were under pressure from their management to lose weight, dieting was a preoccupation. Beckham said it was Geri Halliwell, who encouraged her and Mel C to go running and take liquid meal substitutes to lose weight. In the following years, Beckham began to binge eat.

Barbara Niven: She is beautiful, blond, and brave enough to go public about her bulimia. She wanted to share her experiences, hoping that others who may still be hiding their problem may take their first steps toward recovery.  She admitted that bulimia is a hidden disease. She also said to fight it, first you have to recognize you have it. Then you need to start talking about this and have treatment prescribed.

Christina Ricci: Explaining her anorexia in her teen years, she revealed that she had a brief flirtation with anorexia. Finally, when she was recovering from that, she put on a lot of weight. Off course, this was very difficult for her. In a way, we found out she was trying to get rid of her breasts, although most girls of that age wanted them.

Geri Halliwell: She has been in and out of therapy in her battle against bulimia and binge eating.  She has been suffering from the eating disorder for several years. It was going poorly until a three-day binge made her seek help. In early 2002, she checked into a US clinic to get help with her bulimia. She said that she realized she could not control this monster anymore. Then it was clear she needed to find help. After group therapy, she said she believes the therapy had helped her and it was the best choice for anyone with an eating disorder. This is her piece of advice for those who are struggling. It should help because she tried to relate her personal experience honestly. She said that worrying about an eating disorder really could get you down. She also claims there is nothing to be ashamed about if you have an eating disorder. Her advice is to try honesty, because you will be amazed at the difference it will make to your whole life if you just confide your problem to someone that your trust.

There are many people who want to help, and you really cannot fight this one on your own. We all know it might be a hard decision to make, to tell people and to seek help. However, if we trust all these people who had fought and beaten eating disorders, whether celebrities or not, it is nowhere as hard as trying to deal with the eating disorder on your own.