Anorexia Nervosa Is A Serious Eating Disorder That Affects Women And Men Of All Ages

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 is an eating disorder and a mental health condition that could potentially be life-threatening. People with anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by restricting the amount of food they eat. They often have a distorted image of themselves, thinking that they're fat when they're not.  Some people with the condition also exercise excessively, and some eat a lot of food in a short space of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick. People affected by anorexia often go to great attempts to hide their behaviour from their family and friends by lying about eating and what they have eaten. Anorexia is linked to

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

According to the Mayo Clinic (2016), eating disorders are “conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions, and your ability to function in important areas of life.” One such eating disorder is anorexia nervosa. Not to be confused with anorexia, which is simply a general loss of appetite that can be attributed to many medical ailments, anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder and mental illness (Nordqvist, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is estimated to affect about .9% of women and .3% of men in their lifetime (“Eating Disorder Statistics & Research,” n.d.). In general, the disorder is commonly characterized by a distorted body image or self-concept, critically low weight (with respect to the patient’s height and age), and an irrational fear of becoming fat or an intense desire to be thin. There are two subtypes to this eating disorder: restrictive and binge/purge. In the restrictive type, the individual limits caloric intake and may compulsively over-exercise. In the binge/purge type, the individual consumes a considerable amount of food in a short period of time (binging) and then deliberately vomits (purging), takes laxatives, or fasts intensely in order to compensate for the food eaten (“General Information: Anorexia Nervosa,” n.d.). In either case, anorexia nervosa is undoubtedly a dangerous and alarming illness.

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.

Anorexia nervosa, usually shortened to anorexia, is defined as an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat (Mayo Clinic). Some of the factors of anorexia are a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body image (Segal). People with anorexia place a high value on controlling their weight and shape, using extreme efforts that tend to significantly interfere with activities in their lives. Thoughts about dieting, food, and one’s body may take up most of the day, leaving little time for friends, family, and other activities they used to enjoy. Life turns into always trying to lose weight. The people living with anorexia have distorted minds. They have a phobia of gaining weight and will go to extreme circumstances to achieve their ideal body image. Anorexia is not just about the food, however. Usually anorexia is an unhealthy way to manage their underlying emotional problems. When one has anorexia, they often equate thinness to self-worth and happiness. Anorexia nervosa affects millions of people worldwide, but the prevalence of them in dancers, particularly ballet dancers, is said to be nearly 20 times higher than in non-dancers (Shoker). Nevertheless, anorexia can damage health and even threaten lives.

The National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders states that anorexia nervosa is “characterized by emaciation, a relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight” and those who have anorexia will “lose weight by dieting and exercising excessively; others lose weight by self-induced vomiting, or misusing laxatives, diuretics or enemas”.

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

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

Anorexia Nervosa is known as “anorexia.” However, this disease should not be mixed up with the term anorexia which is simply a lack or loss of appetite, which in fact individuals who suffer from this disease refuse to maintain their healthy recommended body weight. Our text titles Nutrition Essentials tells us that someone who suffers from anorexia nervosa keeps a “body weight, that’s 15% or more below the average weight for his or her height, (Schiff 298.) They develop an unhealthy obsession fearful of gaining weight and becoming obese according to the authors of the text,” when dieting becomes dangerous.” People suffering from the illness typically set impractical and unattainable body goals. Furthermore, they can view themselves as fat and obese when on the contrary they look like a bag of bones. (Michel 5). Anorexics use their weight, shape, and size as the basis for their self-confidence and self-

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

Self image seems to be a high factor in women and teenage girls. Appearances seem to be everything to some people, especially for women or teenage girls. By believing this, people do not even realize that for some girls go through great lengths to have those looks or self image. The measures women take to do so most likely results in making risky decisions. Anorexia is usually the result of low self-esteem, or self body image of the individual. Women do not seem to understand this leads to a mental disease. This disorder is called Anorexia, this affects mostly women, but in some cases men. Anorexia is a type of medical condition that causes an individual to obsess over the desire to lose weight

Anorexia nervosa is a life threatening eating disorder defined by a refusal to maintain fifteen percent of a normal body weight through self-starvation (NAMI 1). 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”(Maloney and Kranz 60). Anorexia produces a multitude of symptoms, and if not treated, anorexia can lead to permanent physical damage or death.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a visible, psychological illness that is detrimental to both the physical and mental well-being of an individual (Bulik et al., 2005). It is an eating disorder that is characterized by not only an unwillingness to gain weight, but a fear of gaining weight. Individuals suffering from anorexia are often perfectionists, who are neurotic, obsessive, and retain a low sense of self-esteem (Kaye et al., 2008; Bulik et al., 2005). These individuals tend to prioritize their physical image over their health, and as a result, AN has retained the highest mortality rate over any other psychiatric illness, occurring at a prevalence of 5% per

The purpose of this paper is to explain the symptoms, causes, and treatments for Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder found in the DSM-5. Anorexia is classified by: a restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and denial or disturbance of ones low body weight. Anorexia nervosa is considered a psychiatric illness that presents severe psychological and physical symptoms. A psychiatric illness is an illness relating to an individual’s mental health.