“ Anorexia Nervosa ” Research Paper

Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.

With Anorexia Nervosa, there is a strong fear of weight gain and a preoccupation with body image. Those diagnosed may show a resistance in maintaining body weight or denial of their illness. Additionally, anorexics may deny their hunger, have eating rituals such as excessive chewing and arranging food on a plate, and seek privacy when they are eating. For women, they go through immediate body changes from abnormal to no menstruation periods and develop lanugo all over their bodies. Characteristics of an anorexic individual also consist of extreme exercise patterns, loosely worn clothing, and maintain very private lives. Socially, to avoid criticism or concern from others, they may distant themselves from friends and activities they once enjoyed. Instead, their primary concerns revolve around weight loss, calorie intake, and dieting. In regards to health, many will have an abnormal slow heart rate and low blood pressure, some can develop osteoporosis, severe dehydration which can result in kidney failure, and overall feel weak (Robbins, 27-29). It has been reported that Anorexia Nervosa has one of the highest death rates in any mental health condition in America (www.NationalEatingDisorders.org).

Eating disorders have become an increasing public health problem once thought to be an affliction amongst young women, now an epidemic across culture and gender boundaries. Anorexia gives rise to serious socio-economic and bio-psychological circumstances of our ever vast, growing society. Awareness of eating disorders have increased but perhaps only in proportion to its advancement of its research and treatment. That which still leaves us in a position for a much greater demand for education and heightened awareness of this perplexing disease.

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

“Anorexia nervosa is a self-induced starvation resulting from a fear of fatness, even though the patient is underweight.” (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016, p. 1238) This disorder is most commonly seen in adolescent girls and women but can be seen in boys and men. Care for patients with anorexia nervosa can be quite complicated but is essential for their recovery. If these patients do not receive proper care they can deteriorate quickly and death will then be inevitable. “Approximately 15% of all patients suffering from anorexia nervosa die from the disorder: two-thirds from malnutrition, one-third as a result of suicide.” (Bakker, et al., 2011, pp. 16-22) Care plans for these patients will need to include physical, emotional, and psychological goals and interventions.

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that affects the psyche by making the afflicted starve themselves because they are afraid of weight gain and have a false view of self image. Anorexics abuse the uses of exercise, laxatives, diuretics, drugs, and enemas to lose more weight. Anorexia is commonly adapted in teenagers but can start as early as age seven and as late as the forties. One percent of Americans suffer from anorexia nervosa and women are more affect than men are. "Individuals with anorexia are on an irrational, unrelenting quest to lose weight, and no matter how much they lose and how much their health is compromised, they want to lose more weight (Tish Davidson, Anorexia Nervosa)." The health factors for being anorexic is long

An eating disorder is a several psychological disorder that is characterized by serious disturbances of eating behavior. The most popular types of EDs that involve food restriction and or purging to reduce their weight are, Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa, the latter being the most deleterious and deadly. According to the DSM-V, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by “persistent energy intake restriction; intense fear of gaining weight or of becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain; and a disturbance in self-perceived weight or shape” (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2013). Amongst all psychiatric disorders, AN has the highest mortality rate of 20% when there is no

Several databases and journal articles have been included in this literature search. Credits for the access to these databases are for the Medical Library of the National Guard Health Services. This Paper emphasize its contents about the prevalence of Anorexia Nervosa among females in general worldwide. So these are the the four terms used in the search: Anorexia Nervosa, prevalence, young adult females, eating disorders. This brief literature search gives the information summary of these databases and journal articles.

Anorexia Nervosa is one of the most prevalent disorders that afflict women, where between 0.5 to 4.0 of all females in Western countries develop it in their lifetime. Victims of anorexia are obsessed with becoming thin and practice refraining from consuming food as well as cycling through bingeing and purging. The question arises if all women in Western society will at one point be fated to struggle with an eating disorder. Even more frightening is the fact that many young women and adolescents are affected by anorexia and are at risk for the various medial problems that result from the disorder. In this paper, I will be discussing my personal experience with certain traits of the disorder, as well as why I believe that anorexia and eating disorders in general perhaps are so prevalent.

As the term "anorexia nervosa" did not exist until 1873” (The first anorexic). In the western world one of the first accounts of anorexia nervosa was during “the 12th and 13th centuries, most famously Saint Catherine of Siena who denied herself food as part of a spiritual denial of self” (A History of Eating Disorders). Most cases of anorexia had to do with fasting as a religious or spiritual experience. However for the women of the Victorian period being thin had transformed and became a way for them to feel successful instead of powerless. It wasn’t till 1970 that the disorder was able to reach the public as it wasn’t just the upper-class that was suffering from anorexia. Again anorexia evolved into the "twentieth-century women progressively idealized the lean, almost 'tubular' body type, deprived of the symbolic emphasis of fertility and motherhood. The thinness of the 'new woman' expressed her sexual liberation and rejection of the traditional female role" (Bremer, J.). Whereas before woman needed to look healthy and capable of having and raising children, now women were aiming to achieve independence the need to be those thing were

We see beauty in abounding people all over the media, yet the technology of photoshop can trick us sometimes and that is why I am writing this letter about countless ladies being influenced into having the 'perfect' body for the approval of superficial ideas. Consequently, young woman being pressured to have the 'ideal' body or face is inappropriate, for they can become mentally or physically ill, the parents of the child suffer conjointly and the girls will no longer regard what is truly imperative to have a successful and joyful life.

Anorexia nervosa is a disease where someone is obsessed with food, body, and being thin, sometimes to the point of deadly self-starvation. This condition may cause them to exercise excessively or simply not consume enough food to meet their daily calorie needs. Symptoms may include Underweight, even emaciated appearance with protruding bones or a sunken appearance to the face, fatigue, dizziness or fainting, brittle nails, hair that thins or falls out, menstrual irregularities.

Anorexia is not just a physical disorder it is a mental disorder. A disorder of the chemicals in the brain. How does having Anorexia Nervosa have an effect on ones life? The struggle to just get enough nutrients in their body, can be tiring since they don't have enough energy for that. Having negative thoughts race through their minds about how ugly and fat they are.

In today’s complex society, adolescents are susceptible to many disorders, with life threatening consequences. A disorder that is often difficult for early detection amongst suffering individuals is called Anorexia nervosa. This medical term is often simply called anorexia, which was coined between Sir William Withey Gull and Queen Victoria’s personal physician in 1868. The Greek term “nervosa” refers to the disgust of owns body, while “anorexia” is the loss of appetite, together defined as “nervous absence of appetite” (Fitzpatrick & Lock, 2011). Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disorder, prevalent amongst adolescent girls; characterized as distorted body image, extreme weight loss, and irrational fear of gaining weight (Wardlaw,

“Anorexia Nervosa is a mental illness in which a person has an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of their weight and body shape. People with this illness believe themselves to be fat even when their weight is so low that their health is in danger” (Encarta). Eating disorders, such as Anorexia, are a major issue in society today due to society’s stereotypical view of women and young teenage girls, in, but many cases men are affected too.