An 18-year-old girl from Kerala, identified as Sreenanda, tragically passed away due to anorexia. She had been battling the condition for several months, reportedly relying on YouTube diet videos and surviving on water for extended periods. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder where individuals obsess over their weight and diet, often perceiving themselves as overweight even when they have a thin physique.
Sreenanda, from Koothuparamba in Kannur, was said to have been struggling with anorexia for about 5 to 6 months. She stopped eating properly and concealed this from her family. Her health worsened as she survived mostly on hot water. After a visit to the hospital, doctors advised her family to seek psychiatric help and ensure she ate adequately. Despite these interventions, her condition deteriorated.
Around two weeks ago, Sreenanda’s blood sugar levels dropped, and she began having difficulty breathing, leading to her hospitalization at Thalaserry Co-operative Hospital. She was admitted to the ICU, weighing only 24 kg. Despite efforts to stabilize her, including ventilator support, she tragically passed away due to the effects of anorexia.
Let’s understand eating disorders in detail:
What Are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are serious behavioral conditions marked by unhealthy relationships with food, body image, and weight. They can cause severe physical, psychological, and social harm. Types include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, pica, and rumination disorder.
Anorexia Nervosa: ED That Caused Death to Kerala Teen
Anorexia nervosa is a condition where individuals self-starve and experience significant weight loss, resulting in low body weight. It has the highest mortality rate among psychiatric conditions, only second to opioid use disorder. Anorexics typically have a body mass index (BMI) under 18.5.
The condition is driven by an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, leading individuals to severely restrict their food intake and often exercise excessively. Some may also engage in binge eating and purging behaviors.
Symptoms include the cessation of menstrual periods, dizziness from dehydration, brittle hair and nails, cold intolerance, muscle weakness, heartburn, severe constipation, stress fractures, bone loss, and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and fatigue.
Other Types of Eating Disorders
Binge Eating Disorder:
Individuals experience episodes of binge eating large quantities of food, accompanied by feelings of loss of control. However, unlike bulimia nervosa, they do not engage in purging behaviors, which can lead to serious health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
Bulimia Nervosa:
Those with bulimia nervosa alternate between extreme dieting and binge eating. After binge episodes, they use compensatory behaviors like vomiting, fasting, laxative misuse, or excessive exercise to avoid weight gain. This behavior is often hidden due to feelings of shame and embarrassment.
Final Thoughts
Eating disorders, like anorexia nervosa, are severe conditions that can devastate individuals’ lives. Early intervention, proper psychiatric care, and family support are crucial in preventing such tragedies. The death of Sreenanda serves as a stark reminder of the devastating effects of eating disorders and the importance of awareness, timely treatment, and support for those suffering from these conditions.
Sreenanda’s tragic death has raised concerns. The youth has been blindly following the hollow and shapeless ideologies of social media leading to drastic altercations. The idea of ‘fitting-in’ creates a homelessness in the minds of youngsters struggling to find their identity. Bullying, shame, comparison and what not affects the very core of the teenage mindset to take wrong decisions which can turn out to be deadly. The early stages of mental disroders in teens are usually manifested in the form of agitation, aggression, disconnection and loss of control on emotions. When overlooked, this can quickly lead to depression, anxiety, lack of self-worth and worse conditions such as eating disorders itself.
In the fragile years of a child, not only parents but every adult near the teen is responsible to them. it is important to notice the changing patterns and behavior of a child. With proper and immediate care and medical attention, many struggling teens can be saved at the early stage of mental disorders.
(Disclaimer: This article is for informational purpose only. Please consult a licensed doctor in case of a medical condition.)
