Body-mass index (BMI) shows the relationship between height and weight. The normal range is between 18.5 and 24.9. Values below 18.5 indicate underweight, and values below 14.5 are life-threatening.
Even though the BMI is not the ultimate parameter of health, it is a good indicator of extremes. Severe overweight can also have life-threatening effects, albeit less acute. A BMI of more than 30 indicates severe overweight; this should be reduced.
Anorexia causes the whole body to be undernourished. The intake of nutrients, electrolytes and water is insufficient. This can lead to long-term mental and physical consequences: excessively slow heartbeat, heart and kidney disorders, osteoporosis, hormonal disturbances progressing to infertility, impotence, loss of nerve cells, anaemia, loss of heart muscle and skeletal muscle, depression, isolation and anxiety disorders. Anorexia that starts at an early age can impact development: menarche does not occur and bone growth can be impaired.
As the disease progresses, the body does not function properly. A mild bacterial infection can become lethal. Anorexia nervosa has the highest case-fatality rate of all mental diseases.
Relatives frequently feel helpless, even though they would like very much to help. It is important not to put the affected person under pressure. Therapeutic assistance is most effective when they are highly motivated to seek help. The best thing relatives can do is to encourage self-motivation. It is also important not to criticise or ridicule body and eating behaviour issues, and not to reduce affected individuals to only their disease.
Given that the situation is difficult for everyone involved and relatives go through their own emotional problems, it is reasonable for them too to seek professional help.
Treatment success depends on your participation. It is of critical importance to admit that you are ill. This insight is difficult, especially since an eating disorder produces shame, guilt feelings, secrecy, or self-control. Use the professional help that you receive as part of your treatment to deal in a candid way with your problems, including those that are not obviously connected with the disease.
As part of the treatment, you will learn a new approach to eating. You should support this process. The path to normal eating behaviour includes eating regularly and in an alert state of mind, recognising satiety, and relishing your food. Interaction with other affected individuals is also helpful.
Playing computer games can be addictive, with similar mechanisms to those when taking addictive substances. Winning activates the reward centre in the brain. The desire to relive a feel-good sensation develops. In time, tolerance develops. The dose, in this case the amount of game-playing, must be increased. As with other addictive situations, control is lost. Gaming dominates. School, education, and family are neglected.
Successful games are designed in a way that binds the user. These games last forever. Graphic features change frequently so that there is always something new to discover. Games distribute rewards, but players do not know when. Games that involve team activity generate social bonding. The degree of difficulty is tailored to the player; this leads to winning, which motivates the player to keep playing. Not every phase of intensive play can be qualified as addiction. Since 2019 however, gaming disorder is recognised as a disease by WHO. This designation facilitates diagnosis and treatment.