my son is 15 and has an eating disorder can anyone tell me why this happens and what should do worried mom?

Answer 1

An eating disorder typically does not happen on its own. It typically has an influence either by a comment or suggestion made by another person from inside the family or the community. For example, it could come from maintaining a certain weight class in wrestling. Peers and classmates can influance it. Also, it can effect how one perceives themself in a mirror. An idea is to seek out counseling for him from an eating disorder clinic. I have included some links for further reading on a subject.

Answer 2

He's got low self-esteem, that is the root of every eating disorder. You have to sit down and talk with him about why and reinforce the reasons he is better than what hes purging/starving for. No body wants to binge/purge or starve, they want an end result, a state of mind or body that they think is achievable. This is usually a last resort.

- Is it because of looks? More boys are dong the eating disorder thing these days because of the added physical attention on boys
- Is he trying to fit in?
- Is he punishing himself for something?
- Is it just a habit he's developed? (likely not, but its a helping
question)
- Is it for attention? To elevate himself to importance in your
eyes?
- Does anxiety about a particular thing make him do this?
- Is it about his sexuality?

Ask questions! And sometime you have to ask twice and rephrase them.

HONESTLY I personally do not condone immediately going all out to the therapist and psychiatrists and all that first because it does subconsciously teach your child that the answer is in other people not within himself- which is the initial problem to begin with. Before there were psychiatrists there were parents and God, you understand?

Getting better is going to be a long period thing. It may not be a couple days, a couple weeks. It may be more like a couple months with some lapses because we do all get down and ready to fall back to old habits. Even getting back to a normal eating habit may be a little difficult even if the bad behavior has stopped. For example, after being bulimic and used to throwing up, it is a little difficult mentally and physical to get used to keeping food down.

Talk about it daily in ordinary conversation about how he feels everyday. Its okay to ask "have you had the urge to binge/purge/ starve yourself?" Is it hard or easy today?

Your obejctive here is to teach your child to cope with life's pressures on their own. This may mean picking up a book or two to teach yourself. Or a teen self-help book on whatever his issue is and support his reading it.

If you are the least involved with your son you will know where to go from there.

Answer 3

I'm guessing this is all relatively new to you, and I know, there is a lot out there to learn and do research on. My advice is to look around on http://www.something-fishy.org/ They have great information for friends and family members. Also, be talking with your son's Dr, ask questions, and MAINTAIN GOOD RELATIONSHIP with your son. The last thing he would ever need is condemnation. You can be his greatest help or his greatest hindrance.

Good luck to you both!

Answer 4

At age 15, your som is considered as a teenager. As we all know, teenagers favour food such as fast food and snacks. your son might be choosy about what he eats, and might not like to eat food such as fruits and vegetables.

Or, your son is afraid of getting obese(which is quite impossible because mostly females would think like that).

the best way is to control his diet and introduce more vegetables into his diet, and let him eat less of fast foods and snacks.Alternatively,make him eat fruits for snacks.

Answer 5

Is he in a sport? Talk to his coach. I recall that my cousin was a wrestler and had to manage his weight. Most boys don't even worry about it - it's the stuff girls think about all the time - but some sports require you to stay within certain limits. If it is sports-related, you can speak very frankly about your concerns to his coach and get his advice.

Answer 6

You should be asking your son's doctor, not an open Internet forum.

Answer 7

SELF ASTEAM? HEALTH PROBLEMS?