Blogs

The Bella Vita and TAABOO are hosting a Walk at Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Sunday March 1 @ 1:00pm to help raise money for research, awareness and treatment of Eating Disorders. This is important because nearly 10 million females and 1 million males across the United States are struggling with the active, destructive eating disorders anorexia and bulimia.

Friday, December 5 at 7 pm on Channel 4

This Friday, Dr. Patricia Pitts, Clinical Director at The Bella Vita, will be featured on Extra’s Life Changers segment. Dr. Pitts will be discussing and answering questions on anorexia and eating disorders.

This special segment will air this evening, Friday, December 5 at 7 pm on KNBC, channel 4. Be sure to check your local listings for the correct time, some satellite and cable systems may vary.

Bulimia is an eating disorder that is defined by periodic binge eating followed deliberate purging.  By purging, a bulimic compensates for excessive eating and to prevent gaining weight. 

For many patients, their eating disorder serves many purposes including:

• To avoid dealing with emotions
• Becomes their identity
• As a way to deal with abusive relationships
• Becomes their way of expressing anger
• As a way to avoid social gatherings
• To regulate intense emotions
• Reinforce negative self-talk to support low self-esteem
• As a way to create order in their life

Why do people have Eating Disorders?

• Need for Control
• Perfectionism,
• High Achiever
• Low Self Esteem
• Depression and Anxiety
• Relational Difficulties
• Media Influence
• Trauma
• Difficulty expressing feelings and thoughts

What is Anorexia? 

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by a distorted body image, low body weight combined with an obsessive fear of weight gain.  An anorexic controls their weight by starvation, exercise, vomiting and purging. Other factors include: 

Do you think you might be bulimic?

Bulimics exhibit many symptoms, some of the common ones are:

• Repeated episodes of bingeing and purging
• Feeling out of control during a binge
• Purging after a binge (vomiting, excessive exercise, use of laxatives, diet pills, diuretics, or fasting)
• Frequent dieting
• Extreme concern with body weight and shape

What is Disordered Eating?

A wide variety of irregular eating patterns and behaviors define disordered eating including: 

• While Disordered Eating is not an Eating Disorder, it can lead to one
• Focus on food, weight, body shape and size turns into strict eating and exercise habits compromising health, happiness and safety

A 2007 Harvard study showed 1 in 4 or 25% adult males have anorexia or bulimia and this epidemic is on the rise. There is a 50% increase in males seeking treatment in the last 5 years.

Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.  20% of those with Anorexia Nervosa will die prematurely from complications with their eating disorder including suicide.

Dimensions of an Eating Disorder

There are many dimensions to an eating disorder:

• Psychological – people pleasers, difficulty confronting effectively, inability to have their own voice, perfectionist, obsessive compulsive, isolate, etc.
• Interpersonal – abusive, smothering, emotionally unavailable, controlling, blaming/placating relationships, etc.
• Cultural – what’s in:  Twiggy, Muscular, Breasts, Celebrity Anorexia; Diet of the Day; and Exercise Fad; what matters is what works for you.
• Genetic – anorexia ru