Anorexia -
Anorexia nervosa is an extremely serious, life-threatening eating disorder characterised by self-starvation and excessive weight loss, effecting 0.3% of adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (male and female). Signs of this disorder can include Inadequate food intake, Self-esteem overly related to body image, frequent comments about feeling overweight despite being thin, consistent excuses to avoid situations involving food, development of food routines (e.g. eating foods in certain orders, excessive chewing, rearranging food on a plate), and the obvious dramatic weight loss in a short period of time due to very minimal food intake. Approximately 90-95% of anorexia nervosa sufferers are girls and women, although there are the few
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People with bulimia place an extreme emphasis on body shape or weight in their self-evaluation. This can lead to the person’s sense of self-esteem and self worth to be defined by the way one looks. In the whole population 0.9% adolescence have bulimia nervosa (males 0.5%; females 0.9%). Signs of Bulimia include: Evidence of purging behaviours, including frequent trips to the bathroom after meals, signs and/or smells of vomiting, presence of wrappers or packages of laxatives or diuretics, Excessive exercise regimen despite weather, fatigue, illness, or injury, Unusual swelling of the cheeks or jaw area, Calluses on the back of the hands and knuckles from self-induced vomiting,staining of the teeth and Withdrawal from usual friends and activities.
Only 1 in 10 men and women with eating disorders receive treatment. Only 35% of people that receive treatment for eating disorders get treatment at a
Anorexia nervosa, otherwise stated as anorexia, is an eating disorder that occurs when an individual restricts themselves from necessary energy intake which leads to significantly low body weight. Other characteristics of this disorder include: intense fear of becoming fat or gaining weight, persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, and disturbances of perception and experience of their own body weight and shape (DSM V, 2013). Effective treatments are still trying to be researched for this disorder, as there is not a “one size fits all” for people of all age groups, living situations, etc. Since adolescents with anorexia are such a vulnerable population,
Three Eating Disorders that will be discussed throughout the rest of this review will include, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder. The DSM_IV_TR describes the conditions under which these three eating disorders are characterized. Anorexia Nervosa is a very serious illness with severe implications in regards to health. It is classified by the DSM-IV-TR as weighing less than the third percentile for body mass index for ones age and sex, fearing weight gain, having a disturbed perception of body image and on hormonal contraception or the absence of menstruation (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Bulimia Nervosa is a second eating disorder described by the
Categorically, adolescents with anorexia nervosa have a chronic low body weight and are below 85 percent of their expected body weight (Lock, & Fitzpatrick, 2007). Anorexia nervosa is most commonly diagnosed in adolescents, an age that can increase the risks of malnutrition, weight loss, osteoporosis, growth arrest, and absent puberty. Anorexia nervosa can damage an adolescent’s identity, and has the highest death rates of any psychiatric illness (Aspen & Boutelle, 2013; Grave et al., 2014). Adolescents that suffer from anorexia nervosa tend to be perfectionists causing them to focus on negative beliefs, fear of failure, and fear of disapproval. They are often high achievers, are inflexible and rigid in their thinking, and see their symptoms as achievements (Hurst & Zimmer- Gembeck, 2015; Westwood & Kendal, 2012).
Anorexia nervosa is a life threatening eating disorder defined by a refusal to maintain fifteen percent of a normal body weight through self-starvation (Arnold, page26). Ninety-five percent of anorexics are women between the ages of twelve and eighteen, however, " in the past twenty years, this disorder has become a growing threat to high school and college students (Arnold, page 39)". Anorexia produces a multitude of symptoms, and if not treated, anorexia can lead to permanent physical damage or death.
Anorexia nervosa, a medical condition defined by an abnormal or pronounced lack of appetite, has become a household recognized condition due to its prevalence and impact. Anorexia nervosa is a major eating disorder that disrupts everyday life, resulting in extreme thinness, hormonal imbalances, behavioral signs, and health issues that can lead to death. While the disease strikes across all gender, races, and classes, the victims affected are typically young, healthy, and attractive women of successful families. The average girl affected usually ages between thirteen and nineteen years old (Landau 3). This disorder has increased rapidly over the last ten years, becoming more common each year (Landau 2-3). Women faced with both a biological
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional
These patients will maintain a normal body weight, which makes it difficult to detect in some people. For people struggling with bulimia, it is a constant battle between wanting to stay thin and a compulsive desire to binge eat. Binging will often cause a feeling of guilt and shame, which then can lead to the patient starving themselves as a form of punishment. (“Bulimia Nervosa,”
According to the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Anorexia nervosa (AN) is defined as “an eating disorder in which people refuse to maintain a minimally required healthy weight for their age and height (body weight less than eighty five percent of expected), have an intense fear of gaining weight and significantly misinterpret their body and shape” (Hasan and Hasan, 2011). Occurring in 0.6% of the population, AN largely affects young adolescent females from a wealthy demographic between the ages 10-30 (Pinel, 2014) (Hasan and Hasan, 2011). These teenage years are distinctive periods of social, psychological, and biological changes. The complexity of the disorder lies in the fact that the cause of it cannot be pinpointed down to a particular reason or event (Lucas, 2004).
Today in society it is founded that Anorexia Nervosa is of most common disorders that affect multiples of women and men across the country. The DSM-V at 307.1 (F50.01) (F50.02) finds Anorexia Nervosa to be a persistent restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight, as related to minimally expected for age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health. The DSM-V also finds the criteria of Anorexia Nervosa to be an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, the disturbance in the way one’s body weight or shape is experienced, the undue influence of body shape and weight of self-evaluation, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current
This paper was designed to discuss several basic topics regarding anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is and eating disorder with an incredibly high mortality rate characterized by low body weight and an obsessive fear of becoming overweight that occurs primarily in females after puberty, yet before the age of 40 years. Unfortunately, Not much is known about the causes of anorexia nervosa, but possible correlations are blood relation to a person suffering from anorexia nervosa, those who have recently experienced a stressful event, a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder in childhood, or participation in a culture or profession that values thinness.
Studies have shown that three percent of males and eight percent of females who were in high school said that they have either purged or took laxatives to lose weight (3). The symptoms of bulimia are tooth erosion, swallowing problems, esophagus problems, and acute stomach distress (“Eating Disorders”). However, binge eating disorder is completely opposite from anorexia and bulimia. Binge eating is when a person over eats in a short period of time. According to Susan Frissell and Paula Harney, two percent of the population suffers from binge eating disorder (27). Studies show that depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, and stomach pain is found in many people who suffer from binge eating disorder (Elkins 45; Kittleson 4). Many people will develop binge eating disorder because they want to distract themselves from a painful event that has happened in their life (Frissell and Harney 27).
There are three most common eating disorders that will be discussed in this essay, the first one being discussed is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is defined as an eating disorder in which people suffer an obsession over their weight and body image, resulting in self-starvation and exaggerated weight loss. Many suffering with anorexia severely restricted the types and amount of food they eat, and often view their underweight bodies as overweight. There are many causes of anorexia as a result of both
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders 5th edition defines anorexia nervosa as an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss; it is a serious and potentially life-threatening disorder. According to the DSM 5, the typical diagnostic symptoms of anorexia nervosa are: dramatic weight loss leading to significant low body weight for the individuals age, sex, and health; preoccupation with weight; restriction of food, calories and fat; constant dieting; feeling “fat” or overweight despite weight loss and fear about gaining weight or being “fat.” Many individuals with anorexia nervosa deny feeling hungry and often avoid eating meals with others, resulting in withdrawal from usual friends and activities
Anorexia nervosa is listed in DSM-5 as a Feeding and Eating Disorder alongside bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). AN is characterised by symptoms that include dangerously low body weight, intense fear of fat or weight gain, abnormal cognitions that lead to an over-evaluation of the importance of body weight, shape and size, indifference about the disorders seriousness (APA, 2013). It is a multi-determined psychiatric disorder with an interplay between sociocultural, biological, physical and mental factors that make it extremely difficult to treat successfully (Chang & Bazarova, 2016; Boraska et al., 2014). AN affects approximately 3.7% of NZ population, the average duration is five years, with the highest prevalent rate (10%) in teenage females (M = 17 years). While predominantly a young white middle-upper class female disorder, recent research shows a significant increase in diagnosis of males,
Patients who suffer from this eating disorder are often meticulous and perfectionists and hold themselves to high standards of success (Merck Manual, 1997). They have a fascination with food, and will cook and bake elaborate meals for others, but not enjoy in its consumption. Often anorexic's will fanatically exercise, and count calories to balance out the food they have consumed, in order to remain in control. Eating disorders are affecting more young teens every day; although 95 percent of those suffering from anorexia nervosa are female, more males are being diagnoses daily. It can be mild and transient or severe and long lasting. The health consequences are