Why are eating disorders so hard to treat? - Anees Bahji

Translator: Lucía Villaverde Rey Reviewer: Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

Globally, about 10% of people

Arredor do 10 % da poboación mundial

will experience an eating disorder during their lifetime.

sufrirá un trastorno da alimentación nalgún momento da súa vida.

And yet, eating disorders are profoundly misunderstood.

Aínda así, estes trastornos son dos máis incomprendidos.

Misconceptions about everything from symptoms to treatment,

As ideas equivocadas sobre os síntomas e tratamentos

make it difficult to navigate an eating disorder

dificultan a loita ou apoiar a quen queres

or support someone you love as they do so.

cando pasa por un trastorno alimentario.

So let’s walk through what is— and isn’t— true about eating disorders.

Falemos entón do que é e non é certo sobre estes trastornos.

First, what is an eating disorder?

En primeiro lugar, que é un trastorno alimentario?

Eating disorders are a range of psychiatric conditions

É un conxunto de condicións psiquiátricas

characterized by these main patterns of behavior:

caracterizadas por estes padróns de conducta:

restricting food intake, bingeing, or rapidly consuming large amounts of food,

limitación da inxestión de comida, enchentes, consumo de moita comida

and purging or eliminating calories

e purga ou eliminación das calorías

through vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise, and other harmful means.

mediante vómitos, laxantes, moito exercicio e outros métodos daniños.

An eating disorder can involve any one or any combination of these behaviors.

Un trastorno alimentario pode comprender calquera destas condutas.

For example, people living with anorexia

Por exemplo, a xente que vive con anorexia

usually restrict the amount of food they eat,

tende a reducir a cantidade de comida que inxire,

while bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder

mentres a bulimia nerviosa é un trastorno

characterized by recurrent binges and purges.

caracterizado polas enchentes e purgas recorrentes.

Importantly, these behaviors determine whether someone has an eating disorder.

Estas condutas determinan se alguén ten un destes trastornos.

You can’t tell whether someone has an eating disorder

Non se sabe se se ten un trastorno da alimentación

from their weight alone.

unicamente polo peso.

People who weigh what medical professionals might consider

A xente cun peso incluído no que os profesionais consideran

a healthy range can have eating disorders,

un rango saudábel pode ter trastornos alimentarios,

including severe ones that damage their long-term health in invisible ways,

mesmo trastornos severos que teñen efectos a longo prazo e invisíbeis,

including osteoporosis, anemia, heart damage, and kidney damage.

incluíndo osteoporose, anemia e danos no corazón e nos riles.

Just as we can’t tell whether someone has an eating disorder

Igual que non podemos saber se alguén os padece

based on their weight alone,

baseándonos só no seu peso,

we can’t get rid of these disorders simply by eating differently.

non podemos desfacernos deles cun cambio de dieta.

That’s because eating disorders are, at their core, psychiatric illnesses.

Isto é porque estes trastornos son no fondo enfermidades psiquiátricas.

From what we understand,

Polo que entendemos,

they involve a disruption to someone’s self-perception.

comprenden a alteración da imaxe dun mesmo.

Most people who experience them are severely critical of themselves

A maioría dos afectados son moi autocríticos

and report many self-perceived flaws.

e perciben moitos defectos en si mesmos.

They may use eating to try to regain some control

Pode que coman para tentar recuperar o control

over an internal sense of chaos.

ante unha sensación interna de caos.

We still don’t know exactly what causes eating disorders.

Aínda non sabemos que causa os trastornos alimentarios exactamente.

There likely isn’t a single cause, but a combination

E probábel que non sexa só unha causa, senón unha mestura

of genetic and environmental risk factors that contribute.

de factores de risco xenéticos e ambientais.

Sometimes, other mental illnesses— like depression or anxiety—

Ás veces, outros trastornos da mente, como a depresión ou a ansiedade,

can cause symptoms of eating disorders.

poden orixinar síntomas destes trastornos.

In addition, certain psychological factors,

Ademais, certos factores psicolóxicos,

such as perfectionism and body image dissatisfaction,

como o perfeccionismo e a insatisfacción co corpo,

are risk factors for eating disorders.

son factores de risco para estes trastornos.

Several social factors contribute, too,

Tamén contribúen os factores sociais,

including internalized weight stigma, exposure to bullying,

como o estigma interiorizado do peso e o acoso,

racial and ethnic assimilation, and limited social networks.

cuestións étnicas e raciais e vínculos sociais limitados.

Although there is a common misconception that only women

Existe a idea equivocada de que só as mulleres

experience eating disorders,

experimentan estes trastornos,

people of all genders can be affected.

pero poden afectar a toda a poboación.

As these disorders intimately affect the development

Como estes trastornos afectan ao desenvolvemento

of one’s identity and self-esteem,

da autoestima e da identidade propia,

people are particularly vulnerable to developing them during adolescence.

os adolescentes son especialmente vulnerábeis a eles.

Although these are among the most challenging

A pesar de ser dos trastornos psiquiátricos

psychiatric disorders to treat,

máis complicados de tratar,

effective therapies and interventions exist,

existen intervencións e terapias efectivas

and many people who receive treatment make a full recovery.

e moita da xente que as segue recupérase por completo.

Treatment has a higher chance of success the earlier it starts

O tratamento terá máis éxito canto antes se leve a cabo

after someone develops disordered eating behaviors.

desde que a persoa amosa condutas sospeitosas.

But unfortunately, less than half of people with an eating disorder

Desgraciadamente, menos da metade da xente que os padece

will seek and receive treatment.

buscará e recibirá tratamento.

Because of the complex effects of eating disorders

Debido aos complexos efectos destes trastornos

on both the body and the mind,

tanto no corpo como na mente,

treatment usually includes a combination of nutritional counseling and monitoring,

o tratamento tende a incluír unha mestura de terapia e control nutricional,

psychotherapy, and in some cases, medications.

psicoterapia e, nalgúns casos, medicación.

Evidence-based psychotherapies exist as treatments for most eating disorders,

Hai psicoterapias de eficacia demostrada para tratar a maioría destes trastornos,

including cognitive-behavioral therapy and family-based therapy.

incluídas a terapia cognitivo-condutual e a terapia familiar.

These are talk-therapies that help people gain the skills

Estas son terapias de conversa coas que se obteñen recursos

to deal with underlying psychological problems

para enfrontarse a problemas psicolóxicos subxacentes

that drive eating disorder symptoms.

que impulsan os síntomas destes trastornos.

Because not all patients will respond to these treatments,

Xa que non todos os pacientes responden a estes tratamentos,

researchers are also investigating treatments outside of psychotherapy,

os investigadores están buscando tratamentos fóra da psicoterapia,

such as transcranial magnetic stimulation.

como a estimulación magnética transcranial.

Proper treatment can reduce the chances of dying from a severe eating disorder.

Un tratamento adecuado pode reducir a mortalidade destes trastornos.

Eating disorders can provoke a powerful sense of powerlessness,

Os trastornos da alimentación poden causar un gran sentimento de impotencia,

but education for individuals, families, and communities

pero educar a xente, as familias e as comunidades

helps erode the stigma and improve access to treatment.

axuda a minar o estigma e a mellorar o acceso ao tratamento.