Eating Disorders : Anorexia Nervosa

Eating disorders are severe disturbances in eating behaviors, such as eating too little or eating too much. “Anorexia nervosa affects nearly one in 200 Americans in their lives (three-quarters of them female)” (Treating anorexia nervosa). Anorexia, when translated into Greek means “without appetite” which is not true for all suffering from anorexia most people with this disorder have not lost their appetite they simply have to ignore it. People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and have convinced themselves that they are overweight even if they are the opposite of overweight. Since the way that they view themselves is in a negative light they starve themselves and put their lives at risk. “In the most severe

One perspective on eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa places the blame on society’s obsession with dieting and the pressure for thinness among women. A Gallup Poll showed that 31% of women and 21% of men are trying to lose weight (Wilke, 2014). Between 40%-60% of girls in elementary school are concerned with their weight (Smolak, 2011). Society’s image of the ideal women is an extremely thin form, really without shape. Barbie dolls and other toy models display unrealistic body shapes. “The standards for thinness have grown increasingly strict and have become more unrealistic over time” (Helgeson, 2017). The media normalizes dieting and excessive thinness and also encourages individuals to evaluate their bodies and to use extreme measures

Effects of anorexia are mostly seen on the outside of the victim’s body, but do not be fooled. This detrimental eating disorder affects one’s mind just as much as it would the body. What Anorexia does to the mind is that it distorts the way one views their body. Victims of anorexia become fixated on their body image and overly critical about their flaws and weight. Even being obviously underweight, Anorexics will continuously deny that they have a problem and continue with their fatal practices. One will continue to diet and take weight loss medication to get as thin as they see fit. The chemistry of the brain changes completely; your memory becomes bad, the brain’s ability to think is off, and extreme mood swings are prevalent. (Smith,

Anorexia is a kind of eating disorder disease. It makes people lose more weight than normal. The people with these disease see themselves as overweight, even when they are not. The most people evicted by this disorder are females. Also, it is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women. Furthermore, these sickness scored the highest death rates of any mental health. In addition, it has two subtypes, and both subtypes are very dangers illnesses that need help from professional people. The first type is restricting. The people with the first type there behaviors usually be like skip meals, fasting, and count the calories in unnatural way. The second type is purging. It is similar to the first type. But it

It is highly likely that you personally know or know of someone who has been affected by this disorder. The specific disorder that is being referred to in this paper, an eating disorder, is Anorexia Nervosa, the restricting type. An eating disorder “involve[s] disordered eating behaviors and maladaptive ways of controlling body weight” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 335). Another well-known eating disorder is Bulimia Nervosa which is characterized by binging and purging (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 338). Bulimia is different than anorexia since victims of bulimia are often normal weight while anorexia victims are well below the average weight.

A major devastating weight related disorder is anorexia nervosa which literally means “lack of appetite induced by nervousness” (Hooley, p.304). This is something of a misnomer as the heart of this disorder is a pursuit of thinness and involves destructive behaviors that result in major dieting. It is a severe eating disorder in which people may refuse to eat while denying that their behavior and appearance- which can be come skeleton like- are unusual. There are two types of anorexia nervosa: the restricting type which afflicts individuals from ages 16 to 20, in both men and women though it can develop from an age as young as 7 (Hooley, p.310) and the binge eating/purging type. The major difference between these two sub-types is the way patients

Anorexia nervosa is psychiatric condition that is part of a group of eating disorders. It is associated with abnormally low body weight, extreme fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body image. Those with the disorder place a high value on controlling their weight to produce certain image. However, those suffering from the disorder more than likely use extreme efforts that tends to significantly interfere with their health and even normal activities or occupations in their lives. There is two forms of Anorexia, Anorexia Nervosa Binge is the type where an individual will purge when he or she eats. Restrictive Anorexia Nervosa is the form of anorexia nervosa where the individual will aggressively limit the quantity of food

There are three common eating disorders; one of the eating disorders is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is commonly described as someone that is starving their body so they can either be or retain a “skinny” body. What they don’t realize is while they may have a thin body they are not giving their body the nutrients it needs and the result could be an “upset in the normal functions of hormones. For girls, this means the body is unable to produce enough of the female hormone estrogen because it does not have enough fat. This will cause an absence of menstrual cycles, called amenorrhea. For boys, anorexia causes a decrease in the production of the male hormone testosterone, which results in a loss of sexual interest.”

“Anorexia Nervosa is the deadliest of all psychiatric disorders.” says Dr. Michelle Jorgensen. Jorgensen, M (2011, March 11). This is a disorder where the person is obsessed with the fear of becoming overweight and their appearance. Even though they are severely underweight they engage in self starving to try to prevent themselves from gaining weight. There are two forms of Anorexia Nervosa, the restricting type and purging/binging type. The restricting type is where the person reduces the amount of food they eat or they do not eating at all. The purging/binging type is where a person eats a large sum of food and after purges everything out by forcing themselves to vomit. With the purging type the person might also use laxatives or diuretics

Anorexia Nervosa is one of several subtypes descending from feeding and eating disorders. It is a crippling life-threatening condition marked by a patient placing restriction on energy intake relative to needed energy requirements, resulting in a relentless pursuit of low body weight in the context of age, sex, development and physical health. According to American Psychiatric Publishing of diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) “Anorexia Nervosa, often times have an early-onset which primarily affects adolescent girls and young women, is characterized by distorted body image and excessive dieting that leads to severe weight loss with a pathological fear of becoming fat” (APA). Anorexia is a condition more common amongst younger patients that causes a disruption in the normal growth process, because they fail to achieve ideal weight and height expectancy. Psychologist are able to determine if an individual meets anorexia weight cutoff requirement by measuring how thin their patients are by calculating body mass index (BMI)

I have always been intrigued with eating disorders, particularly Anorexia Nervosa. When I was 18 years of age, my mother questioned whether or not I was Anorexic and she took me to the family practitioner, who then informed me that I was three pounds shy from being considered underweight. I knew I was thin, but I was really thin, but also really proud of my size. In an African American urban environment being thin was related to illness and drug abuse. I was often teased about how thin and fragile I looked. I embraced the attention I received from being thin, and did little to change my restrictive eating habit. I wouldn’t consider myself Anorexic, but I was accustomed to eating unhealthy high calorie snacks as a meal replacement. My family practitioner recommended that I see a psychiatrist; I refused and reminded my mother how thin she was in her youth. My mother agreed that she was thin, and decided that she may have been over reacting. I never saw a psychiatrist and remained extremely thin for several years thereafter afraid to ever “get fat”. I do wonder if a psychiatrist would have diagnosed me with Anorexia Nervosa Restrictive type NOS, below is my teen profile.

In today’s generation, many females have a fear of gaining weight especially ranked upon young women who turn to food because of long-term depression, stress, emotional issues, physiological, and even social factors. Their main concern tends to focus on the amount of weight but yet gorge on varieties of unhealthy high calorie products (silverthorne1). In consequence females start to have Anorexia Nervosa or even Bulimia Nervosa. Even though both disorders are dangerous similarity Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia have common symptoms on an individual’s health and can even lead to termination of their life.

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder consist of emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S (ANAD, n.d.) bulimia nervosa as well as the other eating disorders are considered to be a female eating disorder, a disorder that only affects women which limits males to seek treatment let alone make aware to other that they suffer from bulimia nervosa. Individuals who suffer from bulimia nervosa tend to eat big amounts of food which experience a lack of control of over eating. They tend to undertake improper purging behaviors such as vomiting, laxative use, excessive exercise and/or starvation. Individuals with bulimia nervosa display their unsuitable adaptive eating patterns a minimum of two times per week for three months and are excessively sensitive to weight gain (Ray, 2004).

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).

Our bodies are naturally designed to maintain a normal body weight. Three examples of an eating disorder are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is a lack or loss of appetite for food; an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Anorexia was identified and named in the 1870’s, when it appeared among affluent adolescent girls. A too-fat body image underlies anorexia. Bulimia nervosa is insatiable overeating as a medical condition, in particular. It is an emotional disorder involving distortion of body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme overeating followed by depression and self-induced vomiting, purging, or