Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa

Eating disorders are characterised by an abnormal attitude towards food that causes an individual to change their eating habits and their behaviour. There are several types of eating disorders that can effect an individual physically, psychologically and socially. The two eating disorders which I will be discussing is anorexia and bulimia.

In my research, I explored the world of eating disorders. I wanted to see if there was anything specifically encouraging eating disorders and if there was a way to stop it. Eating disorders affect the community greatly because often times, they go unchecked or unrecognized. As a recovered anorexic, I feel it’s very important to address this issue. It’s a very big problem that is often not addressed at all, or is seen as normal, like counting calories. I hoped to find a way to improve the way that eating disorders are viewed and explain to people about what defines an eating disorder, because many people will never know if it is not explicitly explained to them. My study’s purpose is to bring light into the dark world of eating disorders

There is a stigma against people who have eating disorders. If they eat too much, they have no self control. If they eat too little, they are neurotic and controlling. The stigma of being labelled with the words “Eating-Disorder” has silenced an uncountable number of people who need help but have been able to convince themselves that it’s “Not that bad.”

For this scenario, the term anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by an overwhelming, irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, compulsive dieting to the point of self-starvation, and excessive weight loss (Wood, Wood & Boyd, 2012 pg. 343). Tiffany is one of the best gymnast on her gymnastics team. Tiffany knows she is the best but is constantly wishing she were thinner like her favorite Olympic gymnasts. Lately, Tiffany’s friends have noticed a drastic change in her behavior and appearance. She constantly complains that she is too fat and ugly. Tiffany has begun a stringent set of routines, which involves more than two hours of rigorous training. Her friends have noticed she is always tired and that she fainted on

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder which heightens the ideas of fear in an individual, particularly the phobia of gaining weight. People with the disorder pine to achieve a body that is unattainable, leading to obsessions about food. Fear is a driving emotion for the disorder, and often it is this emotion which causes prolonged suffering. This paper will go over the DSM-5’s diagnostic criteria, the prevalence of the disorder, the circumstances of onset, etiology, and finally a case example. The case example will illustrate how the disorder can be long-lived and affect relationships. Having a clinical understanding of anorexia nervosa allows for persons outside of the disorder the ability to relate to the victims.

What is an eating disorder, and what do they cause? Eating disorders are maladaptive and very serious interruptions in eating. They can come in the form of overeating, or not eating enough, they are often accompanied by severe misconceptions about body weight and body image. Eating disorders typically begin when the patient is a young adolescent, but can occur before then or many years after, they may be gentic, or occur on their own. Whatever age and reasons these behaviors start, it is still critical, and the patient needs to seek help immediately.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder where people, who are underweight, see themselves as overweight. People with anorexia are obsessed with weighing themselves and eat small portions of a certain type of food. Some people can also have binge-eating disorder by self-vomiting, excessive exercising and extreme dieting. Anorexia is the fear of becoming fat and in order to stay thin, the person stops eating causing malnutrition and instead of becoming thin and they get skinny. Symptoms of anorexia include: extreme thinness, the intense fear of gaining weight, extreme restricted eating, and a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by body image. Other symptoms that

Eating disorders is a big and serious problem in our society, unfortunately society give us a wrong idea of how our body should be, every day every person is exposed to have a wrong idea of beauty because advertisements and magazines .According to national institute of mental health, problem whit eating disorders most of the time include issues whit their behavior, their thinking , feelings and of course with food because they have an extremely fear to gain weight .Eating disorder is a psychological problem that can bring to our life’s an unending threatening costs. People who suffer of Anorexia nervosa usually had a distorted body image, extremely weight loss and low self-teem. Also, this physiological

There are three main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. They all involve serious disturbances in weight regulation and eating habits, accompanied by adverse effects on social, psychological and physical aspects of one’s life (‘Eating disorders: About more than food’, n.d.). This essay will specifically be focusing on bulimia nervosa, as research shows a higher level of stigma associated with it, compared to other eating disorders (Roehrig & McLean, 2009).

Anorexia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life threatening eating disorder which involves starvation of ones’ self. “It is the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young woman and has one of the highest death rates of any mental health condition” (3. National Eating Disorders Association). Individuals with anorexia nervosa typically

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of putting on weight with a negative attitude towards body weight (medical dictionary). Due to this extensive fear, people eventually starve themselves leading to extremely low body weights. People suffering from Anorexia take extreme efforts to keep their body weights in check by limiting the amount of food they eat. These efforts range from excessive exercise, misusing diet aids to vomiting after eating just to reduce the level of calorie intake. However, it should be noted that Anorexia is less of an issue about food but more of a mental problem whereby people suffering from it equate thinness to self-worth (Mayo Clinic). As such Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder

Eating disorders are not just about food and weight; they affect someone both psychologically and emotionally. “Anorexics punish themselves for their perceived failures and self-hatred by restricting their food intake.” (Engel). Although this may be the case, people with anorexia don’t just take food from their lives, the fact that they have self-hatred to trigger it causes many more complications and long-term effects. Clearly, anorexia is not just a weight issue. Individuals mainly use food to control how they are feeling if they are placed in a conflict or feel insecure.

Eating disorders are related to important physical complications and increased mortality. The eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two famous and serious disorders in eating performance and weight instruction. They are associated with a wide range of adverse psychological, physical, and social significances. A person who has the eating disorder may start out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, their desire to eat less or more and will out of control. Also suffering or concerning about body weight or shape, or risky weight management and controlling food intake, may cause an eating disorder. Eating disorders are real illnesses. They frequently bring other illnesses such as depression, substance

In US today, over 30 million men, women, and children suffer from an eating disorder. Research shows that 42% of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner, and 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. In fact, most kids with eating disorders began their disordered eating between the ages of 11 and 13. (Eating Dis.3) The most common eating disorders are; Anorexia, Binge eating, and Bulimia. Why do people resort to something so life threatening? Many people are turning towards eating disorders because they don’t accept who they are. Eating disorders are a mental illness that can have dangerous effects on the human body, and several people are involved in this bad habit.

In an article called “Kristina's story”, kristina develops anorexia nervosa at the age of ten years old. The weight loss was quick and drastic, which increased the curiosity of her parents’ friends as they asked if she had a terminal disease. Taking into consideration Kristina’s health, her parents quickly got on the phone to make an appointment with the nearest specialist. At the beginning of her fifth-grade year, Kristina was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, and despite all the fighting and crying,still, weekly she was seeing three treatment providers. Kristina is fortunate to have such a supporting and fast reacting family. Eating disorders are a very severe illness and should not be taken lightly. You may be asking yourself, How do eating