A debilitating psychiatric condition, Anorexia Nervosa is a fatal illness that happens to have the highest mortality rate among any other illnesses of its kind. An individual diagnosed with the condition would need to be physically and mentally strong to recover from the illness. In certain cases, he/she would also need to be hospitalized or meet a therapist to recover fully. Given below are some wellness strategies to help individuals deal with anorexia nervosa effectively.
Effective wellness strategies to handle anorexia nervosa
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How to understand the root cause of anorexia nervosa?
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What is cognitive behavioral therapy ?
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What are thought records and mood logs?
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How to differentiate the ornamental and functional body?
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What are the iIllness-based thoughts?
How to understand the root cause of anorexia nervosa?
There are many causes for anorexia nervosa, including the wish to reduce weight immediately, coping with stress, trying to get attention from friends and family, cultural pressures, emotional disturbances, genetics, etc. The cause for the condition would vary from one individual to the other as well. Understanding the basic cause for the onset of anorexia nervosa can thus help an individual cope with the condition better.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy ?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help certain individuals deal with anorexia nervosa effectively. CBT specializes in controlling perceptions, which would din turn control feelings, which in turn would control behavioral patterns. As such, seeking help from a therapist for CBT can be a wise choice for individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa.
What are thought records and mood logs?
Maintaining mood logs and thought records can help an individual handle with the thoughts and moods that lead to anorexia nervosa. Mood logs would help the individual monitor his/her moods throughout the day. A thought record on the other hand, would contain these thoughts, but would also contain ideas to distort negative thoughts and reframe them. Reframing negative thoughts into positive ones would help the individual feel less scared and helpless, thereby helping him/her deal with the condition better.
How to differentiate the ornamental and functional body?
While we may want our bodies to look in a specific way, we would need to understand the way it functions. This would help us look the way we want without causing any harm to the body in the process. Individuals with anorexia nervosa would be too fixated on their looks in order focus on anything else, even their health. As such, an individual with anorexia nervosa would need to focus on what he/she can achieve with a healthy body as akin to a thin, starved and emaciated body.
What are the iIllness-based thoughts?
Many individuals fall prey to anorexia nervosa because of illness-based thoughts. Illness based thoughts are those that prevent us from leading a normal life, forcing us to deter from our normal, healthy routine (for ex: skipping meals because of no time while there would actually be time to have them). Recognizing these illness based thoughts and controlling them would help an individual handle anorexia nervosa effectively.
Summary
Anorexia Nervosa is a potentially life threatening illness that requires hospitalization and you can handle it therapeutically. Here are some strategies that would help individuals deal with the condition in a better way.
