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Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

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About Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia Nervosa, commonly referred to as simply anorexia, is a debilitating disease that plagues both men and women. The most widely effected group, however, is that of adolescent females. Once faced with the disease, a person will maintain great difficulty while attempting to overcome it. Knowing what this disease truly entails, and having the knowledge of how to defeat it, are both powerful tools in treating the people who are struggling with anorexia. Defining Anorexia The extreme starvation and profound malnutrition in relation to psychological dysfunction is known as anorexia (Bayer, 1983). Essentially, a person will starve oneself until there is nothing left of them. Although, this may disguise itself as a physical …show more content…

Bayer, 1983). How One Develops it Occasionally, depending on the disease, a person can be born with a mental illness. In the case of anorexia, however, the majority of the cases are developed during adolescence or adulthood. Most women develop this disease from working in a career field that is tremendously focused on body image and weight, with the modeling and ANOREXIA 4 dance industry being at the paramount of the list (Garner & Garfinkel, 1980). This is because when the body serves as the main source of income, being the thinnest, can easily become an obsession. Being a competitive dancer until the age of eighteen, I observed how easily one can cross the fragile line from diet, to anorexia. One girl on my team had to quit dancing because she became so thin, she could no longer properly execute the steps. Although it cannot be said for sure, the combination of being under consistent pressure on stage as well as having a woman take our measurements with the measuring tape every week, more than likely contributed to her diagnosis. An impressionable girl in a high-stakes environment under constant scrutiny, can without even knowing, slip into unhealthy eating habits and excessive dieting. It has been …show more content…

Societal pressures to be thin, combined with the vulnerability that pairs with being a young women, are also leading causes. Other areas that can determine whether or not an individual will suffer from this disease are parental attitudes toward weight control, shape or fitness (Crisp, 1967; Kalucy et al. 1977), family interactional patterns (Minuchin, et al. 1978), and parental personality features (Kalucy et al. 1977). Effects of anorexia on mind and body. While anorexia has extreme physical effects, it can also have an immense impact on the mind. Several studies done by The Institute of Psychiatry in London, revealed that patients battling anorexia struggled, ANOREXIA 5 completing any sort of tasks that fit under the categories of control, memory and concentration (Tchanturia, et al. 2004). These three issues were found to be the most powerful neurocognitive characteristics in regards to anorexia sufferers (Lauer, 2002). Upon gaining the weight back, and beginning their recovery journey, however, the patients’ that were studied, became substantially more competent in those sections (Tchanturia, et al. 2004). As it is clear anorexia provides horrifying disturbances of

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