Introduction

The ever increasing rise in eating disorders is not surprising in view of the importance that our society places on having a slim body.
Young people in our culture, from very early age on, receive the message that being thin means to be happy and successful. Announcements of diets constantly appear in the media telling us that once we have lost weight we will be happy.

The effects of this social pressure on many adolescents are a distorted perception of their own body, together with depression, isolation and the feeling of being losers.This phenomenon is one of the causes that many adolescents start to diet in order to get the ideal body. Sometimes this dieting can turn into a never-ending obsession, that can become the centre of the patient's life.

Anorexia and bulimia are two faces of the same coin. Two very complex and multi-causal pathologies that show physiological as well as psychological symptoms. It is normal for the patient to deny having any disease. This information is directed to family members of the patient in order to help them identify and understand these diseases, specially at early stages when the underlying symptoms are most strongly denied.

If these disorders go undetected and untreated they can result in the long run not only in important physical and social damage to the patient but also potentially fatal consequences. An early diagnosis is the first step toward a cure.