Weekly Learning Record 20.03.2018

Unit 13 Mental Health Issues – eating disorders

Weekly Learning Record 14

Student name: Elena Stavreva

As I think back about my friend with the schizophrenia diagnosis, there was so much about control and fear, and the word control was mentioned again in the session on eating disorders. Lost, gain and excessive control seem to be present with many of the mental health issues. While I was working as a carer for people suffering from dementia, many of them had complex issues, dementia combined with anxiety, with agoraphobia and other types of phobias. I noticed that many of them had periods when they had experienced too much uncertainty, trauma or some kind of violent experience.

In an article Lucy Johnstone and Jo Watson, Therapy Today, comment on the life- saving responses of flight, fight and freeze as response to overwhelming fear, hurt or rejection and how they can become unhelpful when the emotions or memories related to them are not recognised. In this same context they consider that the hearing of hostile voices can be grasped through the focus of survival strategy. Staying with the same thought I would add that eating disorders may be given same context of response to dramatic life events or rejection, or emotional abuse and the need to respond with defending one's territory.

Another article discusses that although, there may be a genetic predisposition for some mental health issues, their development is directly influenced by the environment and the experiences of the person. This made me think a lot about another aspect which is the cultural context of the type of mental health issue and the underlying need or emotional state of the person.

Eating disorders are classified as mental health issues and as I am trying to understand the meaning, I find some in the inability of the mind to remain in control of the body, under the pressure of strong emotions (that most probably have been suppressed/oppressed or repressed excessively or for a longer period of time).

The expression of love and acceptance becomes a treat or turns into a defensive mechanism that becomes a prison for a prisoner trying to escape from another prison.

It seems there is a hindrance on the way the person perceives their acceptance.

Anorexia nervosa is one of the names and some of its symptoms include mood swings, preoccupation with food, anxiety, depression, to follow with low iron and low blood pressure, irregular and slow heart beat, yellow complexion, dry skin and lips. Kidneys and hormonal changes are related to dehydration, infertility and bones issues as osteoporosis or osteopenia appear, all together with abdominal pain and intestine issues.

The bulimia nervosa, on the other hand, leaves the person without the choice to control the quantity of the food received and the amount of food is bigger than what they would usually get. Similarly to the previous, there are mood swings and anxiety with depression that are some of the effects and warning signs. They become symptoms together with food preoccupation, then the body suffers changes as erosion of dental enamel, reflux and heart burn to stomach pain and rupture. There are bowel and hormonal problems related to loss of libido and infertility. Fatigue and lethargy, cramps caused by electrolyte imbalance are added while the heart suffers, as well.

Date: 20.03.2018