On November 16, since 2005, International Anorexia Day has been celebrated around the world. This date is also known as «Day without diets».
The first descriptions of the manifestation of a severe nervous disease, leading to complete exhaustion of the body and capable of leading to death, date back to the 17th century. They belong to the famous English doctor Richard Morton. Richard Morton, 1637–1698).
However, at that time anorexia nervosa was very rare. It began to turn into a kind of scourge of young women and girls (men suffer from this disease much less often) in the 20th century.
Society itself, which sets standards for fashion and beauty, played a major role in the spread of anorexia nervosa. The disappearance of women with natural beauty and figure from the covers of fashion magazines, the appearances of increasingly slender models whose appearance at individual shows was already beginning to resemble photographs of people suffering from hunger, exaggerating issues of combating excess weight in the media, the fashion for all kinds of diets and calls for weight loss led to the fact that a new disease, no less terrible than excess weight and obesity, began to gain momentum and spread.
Anorexia nervosa – is a disease caused by biological, social and psychological factors. It is worth noting that biological factors do not occupy first place here. However, when combined, their disease becomes a real killer, in which a person essentially kills himself. The environment, which can be irresponsible family members and friends, the environment at work or school, and social stereotypes often contribute to the development of behavior in a person called self-destructive.
Anorexia nervosa manifests itself as a painful self-perception of one’s own appearance, when a person suffering from the disease constantly feels overweight and overweight. This pushes him to the most severe diets, increased physical activity, and targeted fasting.
However, getting rid of excess weight, even if it was present at the beginning of the journey, turns into a pathological desire, and the self-perception of one’s own appearance remains unchanged, constantly pushing one to further lose weight. Diets turn into self-torture, and a person begins to look like people who have suffered from hunger for a long time, when the skin actually tightens the skeleton, and there is no muscle mass. The patient, at the same time, continues to deny his problems, speaks of a lack of appetite and continues to suffer from «imaginary excess weight».
The Day's events are aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle and a reasonable attitude towards diets (Photo: Gts, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
The last stage of the disease – cachexia – is extreme exhaustion of the body, accompanied by irreversible and fatal changes, dystrophy of internal organs and suppression of their functions, leading to death.
Statistics confirm that young women and girls aged 18 to 25 are primarily susceptible to anorexia nervosa. However, the trend shows that the disease is shifting in the earlier age period, and the number of cases is steadily increasing.
A number of countries, taking into account the severity of the problem, have already introduced certain restrictions on the demonstration of thin models, as well as their involvement in advertising campaigns.
The initiators of the holiday call on the world community to pay attention to the problem of the disease, which causes the younger generation to suffer, claims the lives of 10% of the sick, and causes irreparable harm to the health of those who managed to recover from it.
Activities carried out as part of the Day are aimed at healthy perception of your body as it is, promoting a healthy lifestyle and reasonable attitude towards diets.
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