These are often in the medical world termed 'premorbidity' and 'comorbidity'. According to Wikipedia;
- premorbidity refers to the state of functionality prior to the onset or of a disease or illness. It is most often used in relation to psychological function.
- comorbidity is either the presence of one or more disorders (or diseases) in addition to a primary disorder (or disease)
Many of those suffering with EDs suffer with other mental health disorders alongside the ED or before the diagnosis of an ED. I want to tell you about some of them, not in relation to the Eating Disorders but as mental health disorders in their own rights.
The first one I will go into in some depth is Depression and it's own co-morbidities. The following check list is taken from Mind. Do you tick 5 of these off?
The following are all symptoms of depression, and if you tick off five or more of any of them you are probably depressed.
My feelings
- I am low-spirited for much of the time, every day
- I feel restless and agitated
- I get tearful easily
- I feel numb, empty and full of despair
- I feel isolated and unable to relate to other people
- I am unusually irritable or impatient
- I find no pleasure in life or things I usually enjoy
- I feel helpless
- I have lost interest in sex
- I am experiencing a sense of unreality
My behaviour
- I'm not doing activities I usually enjoy
- I am avoiding social events I usually enjoy
- I have cut myself off from others and can’t ask for help
- I am self-harming
- I find it difficult to speak
My thoughts
- I am having difficulty remembering things
- I find it hard to concentrate or make decisions
- I blame myself a lot and feel guilty about things
- I have no self-confidence or self-esteem
- I am having a lot of negative thoughts
- The future seems bleak
- What’s the point?
- I have been thinking about suicide
My physical symptoms
- I have difficulty sleeping
- I am sleeping much more than usual
- I feel tired and have no energy
- I have lost my appetite, and am losing weight
- I am eating a lot more than usual and putting on weight
- I have physical aches and pains with no obvious physical cause
- I am moving very slowly
- I am using more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual
Do you tick 5 of these off? Many people can.
Some people can and then relate them to direct things happening in their life at that moment in time. For some people, it's a cope-able situation if there is a finite time limit to these feelings, but for some there is no end to how long these feelings can go on. When these feelings start getting in the way of life, making every day life harder and less worthwhile then a person needs help. In these cases, people need understanding, empathy and the right treatment and/or medication.
There is a feeling from the older generations (often because that was the way they were brought up) that the sufferer just needs to 'pull themselves together' or 'stop feeling sorry for themselves' or 'just get on with life'. Also the phrase 'you have a good life/family/partner/job so what have you got to be depressed about' can come up.
The thing is that there are so many causes of depression. So many people just get on with life whilst they suffer underneath. I know that both myself and KP fall into those categories. I have suffered on and off depression since my early teens and the worst thing about it is some of my closest friends and family were and are unsympathetic of it.
Depression does not just make you feel 'down' or 'sorry' for yourself. It's the way it affects you physically especially the amount of sleep, headaches and increase/decrease in appetite. It's the way you can't seem to see the point in doing anything or the things you once loved doing you now just can't be bothered with. Most of all it's the way you land up feeling so isolated and alone.
I know in the past when I've been really depressed the only way of explaining it is the feeling of being down a huge black hole, with steep slippery sides, that you can't climb out of. It's the waiting for someone or something (medication normally) drops down the rope to help you climb out. the thing is I'm useless at climbing ropes and every so often I get a few meters up that hole before I slip backwards a few foot. It's not fast progress but slowly the light at the top of the hole gets bigger and brighter, your inner core begins to flood with hope that sometime soon you might make it to the top, and when you do you'll deal with what meets you there.
How can you help someone who is depressed?
You can just be there. That doesn't mean pestering them for answers, but just making that person you are there to listen, to support and willing to try to understand. You can offer physical support whether that be a hug, or offering to look after the children for a night so they can have that much needed night off. Most of all be open. You might not like all you may hear, but you are a very important part of the process of healing for that person.
You many well be their anchor in stormy seas.
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