One of the side effects of living in a stress-filled century is the growing instances of eating disorders among the youth of the country. Bulimia came into fashion when Princess Diana admitted that she was suffering from it. This eating disorder is just one of the few, which have manifested themselves, whenever some teenager or a fashion conscious lady decides that she needs to be as streamlined and frail looking as a model.

This preoccupation with trying to control your weight is due to many factors, like no self-confidence and self-esteem, stress, psychological and biological factors, as well as social and peer pressure to be as thin as a rake. The idea of dieting continuously in the patient’s own way of trying to gain control of his or her life, even though eating disorders are more common in women than in men, in a bid to gain some more self-confidence and be accepted by their contemporaries. This gives way to an adoption of rigid rules imposed upon oneself, a complete turning away from food in any form, and getting obsessed with your shape and weight. This naturally gives rise to psychological effects like disrupted relationships, depression, impulsivity, anxiety, and of course the patient getting psychologically disturbed because he does not have enough of strength to function at his optimum, both mentally and physically. That is the time when he starts taking medical advice, because he has to get over the guilt associated with his eating binges. He might also decide that he is not going to eat because eating puts a financial strain upon him, all sorts of excuses to justify his eating disorder. This is when an eating disorder starts to effect work, hobbies and relationships.

Now how do you get to know if any of your family members are suffering from an eating disorder? There are three types of eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, and Bulimia Nervosa. Desirability affects patients in the beginning of adolescence and adulthood.

Eating disorders can become chronic if they are not treated immediately. The immediate effect in anorexia nervosa is dehydration and cardiac dysfunction. After the weight of the patient has been stabilized, he has to undergo cognitive behavior therapy to make sure that a relapse does not occur.

If a patient suffers from bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and anorexia, it is necessary for him to undergo cognitive behavior therapy. That is because this therapy addresses the reasons behind the patient's need not to eat food. This includes the familial, social, and the psychological behavior atmosphere and their demands upon him. Treatment sessions also make sure that the patient learns how to cope with stress and guilt feelings associated with binge eating.

The final stage of the treatment is to prevent relapse from occurring and that means the doctor and the patient have to map out strategies to maintain the status quo of good health and to prevent the patient from sliding away again into unhealthy eating habits.