Specialist from Medical Park Tokat Hospital Psychiatry Clinic. Dr. Meral Oran Demir made statements about eating disorders. Pointing out that eating disorder should also be evaluated psychologically, Medical Park Tokat Hospital Psychiatry Specialist Dr. Meral Oran Demir, “Untreated depression and anxiety eating disorder; Eating disorders also increase the symptoms of these diseases, creating a vicious circle. In other words, a problem related to eating behavior, especially obesity, cannot be resolved without a psychiatric evaluation. For this reason, psychiatric evaluation in all kinds of eating-related diseases is essential both in the treatment of diseases and in terms of support in the weight regulation process.
Specialist from Medical Park Tokat Hospital Psychiatry Clinic. Dr. Meral Oran Demir made statements about eating disorders. Mentioning that food is a natural reward and that it is essential for human survival, Uzm. Dr. Demir said, “However, in recent years, eating behavior is perceived as an activity that gives pleasure rather than survival. The fact that food is a natural reward and stimulates the pleasure mechanisms in the brain has led us to eat more and seek more delicious food. Food production and marketing sectors also responded to this search. We are eating more food and consuming more artificial foods than years ago. This has led to the emergence of both eating disorders and serious health problems such as obesity. Emotional eating, that is, eating when we are not hungry, has become an indispensable habit of all of us.”
eating disorder behaviors
Talking about the types of eating disorders, Dr. Dr. Demir shared the following information:
“Eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder in classical psychiatric diagnosis systems. In addition to these diagnoses, there is very important evidence on the psychological aspect of obesity, which is one of the biggest health problems of our age. In addition, although not yet included in the diagnosis systems, orthorexia nervosa (obsession with healthy food), aerobic neurosis (exercising excessively and obsessively), food addiction, night eating disorder are the conditions related to eating behavior.
Emotional eating disorder can be seen in individuals with obesity.
Pointing out that the psychiatric aspect of the disease is often overlooked in eating disorders, especially when it comes to obesity, Uzm. Dr. Demir said, “It is seen that almost all of the people who meet the obesity diagnostic criteria have emotional eating. Trying to get rid of negative emotions with the pleasure of eating is one of the most unhealthy coping strategies. When these people undergo psychiatric examinations, if there is a psychiatric comorbidity, it becomes more difficult for them to lose weight or comply with the diet program. In addition, during very strict diets, symptoms such as psychiatric complaints, depressed mood, not being able to enjoy life and anxiety occur.
Psychiatric evaluation required
Underlining that eating disorder should also be evaluated from a psychological point of view, Uzm. Dr. Demir said, “Untreated depression and anxiety eating disorder; Eating disorders also increase the symptoms of these diseases, creating a vicious circle. In other words, a problem related to eating behavior, especially obesity, cannot be resolved without a psychiatric evaluation. For this reason, psychiatric evaluation in all eating-related diseases is essential both in the treatment of diseases and in terms of support in the weight regulation process. Although it comes to mind last, psychiatry deals with eating behavior and all related disorders and provides support to the treatment process.