The discrepancy between what we perceive as real and what actually isn’t is one of the many ways the brain can trick us and condition us to act in a certain way. One of the many examples is an eating disorder, the prevalence of which increased after the 2020 pandemic. It is a serious psychological disorder, which often goes unnoticed or is minimized at the beginning; in such a way that, by the time the intervention is made, the disease has already assumed great proportions, endangering the life of the patient and causing much pain to the family. Mental behavior towards food varies between extremes: either you eat a lot or you eat little/nothing. In both cases there is damage to health. The brain deceives by making the perception of the image of one’s own body completely different from what it really is. As a psychiatric condition, it requires early intervention by a specialist. The road to recovery is bumpy and long.

Why can’t I stop eating chocolate or chips? Thus, food stimulates and conditions the brain

Beauty standards that include staying thin and muscular have done and continue to do a lot of damage, especially to people who tend to base their lives around body image. There are many cases that have been reported due to medical error or dangerous experiences of patients who were subjected to unnecessary surgical risk. On the other hand, social networks and marketing are responsible for the absurd cult of body aesthetics, conveying the wrong message about physical perfection (not necessarily health) as the main reason for success in life. In body dysmorphic disorder, there is a constant search for physical body defects that urgently need to be corrected. Defects, if they really exist, are minimal or go unnoticed, but the brain deceives the person suffering from this disorder. Fear of rejection, low self-esteem, obsessive disorders, perfectionistic behavior are just some of the factors that play an important role in this distorted perception of one’s own body identity. Although genetics also play an important role; In the case of young people, it is generally related to a family environment with a lot of demands and little dialogue.

The surprising benefits of simple physical exercise for your brain

In the vortex of the “perfect body” are not only aesthetic procedures, which already carry surgical risks, but also the use of certain drugs that have specific indications, but cause weight loss due to their side effects. Thus, therefore, we pass from the therapeutic use of drugs to their abuse. An increasing number of botulism cases have just been reported after cosmetic surgeries performed in Turkey. Botulinum toxin (as its name suggests, it is a toxin and therefore a poison) has multiple therapeutic uses; but its misuse and wrong application can cause severe complications.

Young people, currently exposed to a large amount of information, require constant family communication more than before. The fact that a teenager “goes on a diet” without it being necessary for his health should alert his parents that something is wrong. (OR)