|
By Becki Woods
So you’ve got through the first two terms and the huge hangover that is Easter. All that is left to face is those last few assignments, the exams, and the haze filled oblivion that is summer...
Let’s face it, Uni life is fun. Hugely fun. We students get much more freedom than most people who have real jobs. We have cheap nights out, interesting people to meet, and Dylan’s bar stools to imprint our rears on.
One thing to consider though is the fact that some people might not be enjoying the experience as much as the rest of us. You know who I’m talking about: alone most of the time, never seems to enjoy things and almost never eats. Come to think of it, you’ve never ever seen this person eat.
This person has strangely got skinnier since the start of the year, and even though you may not talk to them a lot, they seem increasingly unhappy.
Anorexia Nervosa is thought to be plaguing one percent of young women -who are ten times more likely to suffer from it then males. The disease is characterised by the extreme weight loss and obsessive behaviours that get harder and harder to hide as the disease progresses. If not treated, it can burn a hole through a person’s whole life and family, even kill. Up to 20% of sufferers never recover from the illness.
You must’ve seen the headlines: Even a lecturer like Rosemary Pope can suffer from this disease. She weighed less then 5 stone when she died, and students have always been a high risk group…
It’s a stressful time of year; the final deadlines, the exams, the pressure… Some people develop dangerous ways of coping with stress.
Now is the time to look out for your friends, because you can bet your life (or beer) savings that they’re not going to be the first to talk about it, it doesn’t work like that. The sufferer gets caught up in a cycle of shame and self loathing, this illness still has such a stigma that’s uncalled for since it’s so incredibly common.
So look out for your friends, people cope with stress in many different ways, some more constructive then others. Don’t let your friend become a statistic.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does this sound like you? Or one of your friends?
Here are some useful websites where you can get up to date information:
www.somethingfishy.org
www.b-eat.co.uk
Another online help guide (www.helpguide.org) lists the symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa as:
-
Preoccupation with dieting despite looking thin
-
Very small food intake
-
Pretending to eat/lying about eating
-
Preoccupation with food – even though they eat very little, anorexics can become obsessed with food
-
Strange or secretive food rituals (always having to eat food in a certain order/cutting food into small pieces…things like that)
-
Dramatic weight loss
-
Refusal to accept their weight is too low
-
Highly critical of appearance, some anorexics spend hours in front of the mirror seeing imaginary fat.
Other signs could be: depression, irritability, fine body hair on the thighs and sides of face, and a tendency to feel the cold more than others.
|
