Anorexia Nervosa Essay

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).

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,

It’s only human to wish you looked different or could fix something about yourself. But when a more serious notion with being thin takes over your eating habits, thoughts, and life, it’s a sign of an eating disorder. When you have anorexia, the desire to lose weight becomes more important than anything else. You may even lose the ability to see yourself as you truly are. Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that affects people of all ages. It can damage your health and threaten your life. But you are not alone. There’s help available when you’re ready to make a change. Everyone

In the book “Boys Get Anorexia Too : Coping with Male Eating Disorders in the Family,” author Jenny Langley briefly describes about anorexia nervosa, and the short-term and long-term effects of it. Anorexia is a disease involving intentional starvation, an obsession with food and weight related issues, and extreme weight loss. Langley notes that people with anorexia will deprive themselves of vital nutrients through severely restricting food intake. Despite this excessive weight loss, the person will continue to feel overweight. They deny the fact that they are at a dangerously low body weight and fear being fat. Thus, the body is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve energy, or resulting in serious medical consequences. Langley

Anorexia Nervosa is the condition when an individual abstains from food in order to lose weight or prevent more weight gain. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV(DSM-IV) there are four aspects of criteria to be diagnosed with anorexia: a refusal to maintain weight above what is minimally normal for one’s age and height, and extreme fear of weight gain, distorted body image, and (in females) having amenorrhea(missing three or more consecutive menstrual cycles.)(DSM-IV, 2000:589) Anorexia not only affects weight, but also alters bone growth, neurotransmitters and hormones in the brain, and electrolytes.

Anorexics put other people’s feelings in front of theirs. They also feel that the only thing in their lives is food and their weight and this shows that they have low self-esteem for themselves. “Signs and symptoms are noticeable weight loss, becoming withdrawn, excessive exercise, fatigue, always being cold, and muscle weakness” (www.mirror-mirror.org 1). There are many more signs and symptoms for this illness. “An estimated 10

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that affects about 0.5 to 1 percent of women in the United States today. ("Anorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association") While, that may not seem like a lot of people are suffering from Anorexia nervosa it has received a significant amount of attention due to the consequences of developing this disorder. For example, it is reported that five to twenty percent of people who have Anorexia Nervosa will eventually succumb to their condition and die prematurely. ("Anorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association") Even those who do recover from Anorexia can develop other consequences as a result of this eating disorder. Muscle loss, amenorrhea, reduced bone density, and abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure. The abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure tend to show that this means that the heart is changing which puts the person at an increased risk for heart failure. ("Anorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association")

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

People with anorexia may try to lose weight by starving themselves or by severely limiting the amount of food they eat. They may also exercise too much. Some people may engage in behaviors like, binging and purging. They may induce vomiting after eating or take laxatives. Diagnosis of anorexia has become more prevalent in the last 20 years. Anorexia is typically seen in teenage and young adult women .Women with anorexia have a distorted body image, believing they are fat when they are thin or normal weight. Also patients with anorexia may have a lot of other significant health problems due to the illness. Common illnesses include orthostatic hypotension, bradycardia, amenorrhea, alopecia, and hypothermia. Anorexia also has an effect on serum electrolyte levels and thyroid function, low calcium and potassium levels. Anorexic patients also have some medical problems, like bone density, osteopenia and osteoporosis early on in

We must also consider the effects of anorexia. People with anorexia experience hair loss and fingernail breakage. Women who suffer will begin to have period loss. Those who continue to be anorexic without getting help can become anemic and even begin to develop very brittle bones. Anorexia is a serious medical illness, and with severe malnutrition anorexia can also cause death.

Only 1% of young women meets the standards for diagnosis of Anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa means "nervous lack of appetite." This implies a lack of interest in food, and this is not the case with anorexics. This disease is the "relentless pursuit of excessive thinness". (Levine, 32) This interferes with the fulfillment of responsibilities to the self and others because it tends to produce an intense fear of becoming fat. Both victims of these diseases are obsessed with food and weight control. Young women succumb easily to these diseases because they tend to under go extreme pressure throughout middle and high school. They fall into a trap where they feel they must please others before pleasing themselves.

The pressure of being thin, beautiful and simply just looking perfect has become a major dispute in Americas culture. Television, Magazines and social norms effect young kids in the way they see themselves and now has turned into a main health concern. Seeing other people who you think may look perfect, is deceiving to many young girls as they think they are either overweight or just not good enough. With implying that it might result in some type of eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa. This obsession of being thin has rapidly increased over the years and is still accelerating.(DSM) This type of disorder, mainly appearing in females has over five million cases and one million in males.(family dr) Most kids with anorexia are usually

Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa include: heart muscle damage, heartbeat irregularities, low blood pressure, kidney damage, kidney failure,

     When I think of anorexia, a few things come to mind. I think of really bad episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch in which females, ususally teenagers, starve themselves and take diet pills. The eating problem is always resolved within the timespan of one 30 minute episode. From the research I've done thus far on anorexia, I now know that this is a very unrealistic representation of what is actually a very serious disease.

In-patients with anorexia, starvation can damage vital organs such as the heart and brain. To protect itself, the body shifts into " slow gear ": monthly menstrual periods stop, breathing, pulse and, blood pressure rates drop, and thyroid function slows. Nails and hair become brittle, the skin dries, yellows, and becomes covered with soft hair called lanugo. Excessive thirst and frequent urination may occur. Dehydration contributes to constipation, and reduced body fat leads to lowered body temperature and inability to with stand cold. Mild anemia, swollen joints, reduced muscles mass, and light headedness also commonly occur in anorexia. If the disorder becomes severe, patients may lose calcium from their bones, making them brittle and prone to breakage. Scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have also found that patients suffer from other psychiatric illnesses. They may suffer from anxiety, personality or substance abuse disorders, and many are at a risk for suicide. Obsessive compulsive disorder, an illness characterized by repetitive thoughts and behaviors, can also accompany anorexia.