Why Diets Can Be Dangerous

Why Diets Can Be Dangerous

Plenty of people are on diets. But there are times when a diet turns into a whole other process and becomes an eating disorder. No one intends for this to happen, but it can when someone becomes so exhilarated at seeing a weight loss and feeling so in control of their weight that they make their diet even stricter and more weight loss follows. And then the diet becomes even stricter, and so on and so on. Without realizing how and when it happened, food choices become more and more narrow, and dieting becomes addictively out of control, like a runaway train. That is how someone who started a diet can become anorexic. When losing weight takes over your life, and your behavior around food becomes more secretive, you may find your life becoming more and more isolated. No matter how little you actually eat, thinking about food can take over your mind. After awhile, some people find themselves binge eating, then purging to rid themselves of the food.

Eating disorders are potentially life-threatening conditions. If you find that your dieting has begun to get out of control, do not wait to get the professional help you need. The longer you wait, the more entrenched the eating disorder becomes. Make sure that you consult with a psychotherapist who has had specialized training and experience in treating people with eating disorders. Being in treatment with someone who has not had specialized training and experience can result in your condition becoming worse. Directories of mental health professionals who specialize in eating disorders can be found online at the websites for National Eating Disorder Association, Academy for Eating Disorders, EDReferral, National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, and even one with the odd name of Something Fishy. People can and do recover from eating disorders, so do not wait.

What if deciding to meet with a therapist makes you anxious?

The decision to consult with a therapist for the first time can evoke feelings of anxiety. You have probably been living with this problem for some time, and despite how unhappy it is making you, it is old and familiar. Doing something about the problem means stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a riskIt is a brave thing to do. Nevertheless, it may make you feel anxious, which is a very normal feeling under the circumstances. It is much easier to decide not keep the appointment. But that only will defeat your purpose. Do the more difficult thing and meet with the therapist. Tell him or her how nervous you feel about being there. If the therapist is interested in hearing more about this, this should provide some feeling of relief.(After all, it’s not called the talking cure for nothing.) And this should make it easier to return to talk some more.