Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

.docx

School

Liberty University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

430

Subject

Psychology

Date

Dec 6, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by JusticeMorningGoldfinch9

1 Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper Bryce Beach School of Behavioral Science, Liberty University PSYC 430-B04: Abnormal Psychology Professor Florin Coltea October 2, 2023

2 Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper Introduction It is possible to argue that, in one way or another, every person has struggled with eating habits in numerous different ways. For some, that may manifest as over-eating or improper eating times for others, but it also could look like not eating whatsoever for many. This mindset of not eating any food at all is known as anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is a destructive and complex psychiatric disorder that is characterized by the restriction of food leading to low body weight (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This disorder has received attention from clinicians, researchers, and society alike since its discovery. It can look quite dissimilar depending on the person, but can often be tied to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. While an abundance of research has been conducted on the disorder, it is important for students seeking higher education to fully comprehend anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders like this, especially if they seek a career that is connected to psychology. In this research paper, there will be an investigation into the six main parts that make up anorexia, which are its historical context, cause of the illness, treatment methods, preventive actions, cross-cultural issues, and biblical worldview. Through these sections, a better understanding of this eating disorder will be fostered. Historical Context Even though we received the first definition of anorexia in 1689, we can see the habits or even the practice of it in history through different societies. Often masked as religious fasting, the disorder was passed off as a person focusing on purity instead of a drive for thinness. Even then we can see from the 1500s-1800s the concept of an exhibition of astonishing starving abilities from individuals. It was almost encouraged as it supported the material and spiritual beliefs of being perfect. With such displays of anorexia, a desire to understand why individuals

3 were reacting this way to eating was finally introduced in the late 17 th century by Dr. Richard Morton. Morton was an English physician who had, up to this point, not dealt with something like anorexia before meeting an 18-year-old woman in England. In his notes, Morton defined the woman as almost to be a skeleton with skin stretched upon it. The woman had no sign of a fever or any type of sickness, but the information that best served Dr. Morton was that the woman’s appetite had become very diminished leading her to have “fainting fits” and a damaged digestive tract (Habermas, 2019). Morton worked closely with the woman for the next two years trying to treat her only leading her to death a mere two years later. From this case, Dr. Morton coined the name “nervous atrophy,” which he characterized by constipation, emaciation, and over-exertion. From Morton’s first definition, we now had a foundation, or framework, to later frame what we know as anorexia nervosa, today. The next major event in the history of anorexia happened almost two hundred years later with physicians Ernest-Charles Lasègue and Sir William Gull. The two together published a series of papers that introduced the term “anorexia hysteria” with multiple case studies of several patients, all described as severely underweight women, who ranged in age from sixteen to twenty-three (Habermas, 2019). Gull described the women’s symptoms to be fatigue, low body mass, amenorrhea, and a severely decreased pulse rate. The term hysteria was used as it was the first time anorexia was linked to be considered a psychological disorder. From these French and English physicians, we were able to gain an understanding that this was not a biological issue but a psychological one, as said before. Much like other fields of psychology, anorexia nervosa became more prevalent during World War I. We can see in Habermas’ article (2019) that through the war French, Italian, and German literature were able to find three approaches within psychiatric thinking that they felt

4 were sufficient to explain the differences in reports of anorexia depending on the nation. What they were able to find is that minute clinical description, attentiveness to psychological factors, and attentiveness to nutrition served as factors in anorexia. By 1952, the DSM-1 was published as a tool for medical professionals and anorexia nervosa had received its first established criteria for diagnosis. Cause of the Illness Saying that there is one single cause for anorexia nervosa completely neglects the psychological aspects of the disorder as no brain is exactly alike and varies from person to person. Due to this, the causes of anorexia are multifactorial and complex. They involve a combination of different factors like genetic, neurobiological, psychological, and even environmental. While this is not fully proven, there has been evidence found that introduces the idea that anorexia nervosa can have a genetic predisposition depending on the client. Studies have found that individuals with a family history of eating disorders are at a higher risk of developing the condition and variations in certain genes may contribute to an individual's susceptibility. However, a question could be asked if that is their nature or if that was nurtured into them by seeing family suffer from eating disorders. Some psychological factors include body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, low self-esteem, and an intense fear of gaining weight that we can see push people to begin restrictive eating patterns. In Indicators of Eating Disorders in Sexually Abused Brazilian Adolescents, the researchers aim to see how sexual abuse can be a cause of anorexia nervosa (Andrade et al., 2023). While the other causes are majorly important, the idea of sexual abuse being a trigger for anorexia is an intriguing idea to investigate. Experiencing sexual abuse can be a traumatic event that significantly impacts an adolescent's emotional and psychological well-being. Trauma,

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Recommended textbooks for you

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)

Psychology

ISBN:9780134477961

Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White

Publisher:PEARSON

Cognitive Psychology

Psychology

ISBN:9781337408271

Author:Goldstein, E. Bruce.

Publisher:Cengage Learning,

Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and ...

Psychology

ISBN:9781337565691

Author:Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)

Psychology

ISBN:9780393265156

Author:Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga

Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company

Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a...

Psychology

ISBN:9781285763880

Author:E. Bruce Goldstein

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)

Psychology

ISBN:9781305652958

Author:Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz

Publisher:Cengage Learning

SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS

Recommended textbooks for you

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:PEARSON
Cognitive Psychology
Psychology
ISBN:9781337408271
Author:Goldstein, E. Bruce.
Publisher:Cengage Learning,
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and ...
Psychology
ISBN:9781337565691
Author:Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:9780393265156
Author:Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga
Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a...
Psychology
ISBN:9781285763880
Author:E. Bruce Goldstein
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Psychology
ISBN:9781305652958
Author:Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz
Publisher:Cengage Learning