Eating Disorder : Anorexia Nervosa

To be diagnosed with eating disorder, someone must meet certain criteria. The criterion for diagnosis slightly varies depending on if you are referring to people who (A) fear gaining weight, and have significant weight loss,(B) eating a huge amount of food , then use laxative to remove the binged food, (C) the use of excessive exercise and fasting in order to remove or to reduce the amount of calories consumed, and (D) distorted body image, no matter how thin they become, they still see themselves as fat, or not thin enough. The onset of of symptoms begins usually in early adolescence with the diagnostic of disturbed Body image.

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 an eating disorder that is categorized by severe food restriction, excessive exercise and body dysmorphia, which leads those that suffer from it to believe that they are overweight. Anorexia nervosa is commonly misunderstood by the general public. Research has disproved many of the previous thoughts about anorexia nervosa. According to the scientific research anorexia nervosa has a genetic factor, is not just a disorder of teenage girls, and that recovery is not simply gaining weight.

“Up to 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder” (Wade, Keski- Rahkonen, & Hudson, 1995). There are many factors which contribute to the development of eating disorders including “biology, emotional health, and societal expectation, and other issues” (“Diseases and Conditions Bulimia nervosa”). One of the most prominent eating disorders in America and around the globe has been around since the Middle Ages: “Bulimia is first reliably described among the some of the wealthy in the Middle Ages who would vomit during meals so they could consume more” (“A History of Eating Disorders”). Today bulimia is more prevalent and is predicted to affect around “4% of women in the United States” (“Eating Disorder Statistics and Research”). In 1979, Gerald Russell published a description of bulimia nervosa. It was the first description of bulimia ever published. Only a year later in 1980 bulimia appeared for the first time in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III.

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

For this scenario, the term anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by an overwhelming, irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, compulsive dieting to the point of self-starvation, and excessive weight loss (Wood, Wood & Boyd, 2012 pg. 343). Tiffany is one of the best gymnast on her gymnastics team. Tiffany knows she is the best but is constantly wishing she were thinner like her favorite Olympic gymnasts. Lately, Tiffany’s friends have noticed a drastic change in her behavior and appearance. She constantly complains that she is too fat and ugly. Tiffany has begun a stringent set of routines, which involves more than two hours of rigorous training. Her friends have noticed she is always tired and that she fainted on

Eating disorders are classified by persistent disturbances in eating behavior, according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2013; Hooley et al., 2017). One of the most prevalent eating disorders is anorexia nervosa, which literally means “lack of appetite induced by nervousness,” although the disorder may not necessarily include a lack of appetite, but instead the restriction of food due to an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat (Hooley et al., 2017). Anorexia nervosa is also characterized by a significantly low body weight as well as a disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced (APA, 2013). Two subtypes of anorexia nervosa exist, the restricting type and binge-eating/purging type. These describe two different ways

Anorexia Nervosa is currently viewed by society as an extremely complicated disorder, misunderstood, over looked, and misjudged based on the stigmas of society. People who suffer from eating disorders like Anorexia do not always report the fact they are in living with the disorder because they are ashamed or scared of what might happen to them or what people will say. An individual may also feel that they do not met the exact criteria of Anorexia Nervosa in the DSM 5. An example of the DSM 5 criteria for Anorexia Nervosa is an individual purposely takes too little nourishment, has below average body weight, fearful of gaining weight, refusal to keep a normal weight, distorted body perception

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

Anorexia is the disorder where people distinguish themselves to be overweight, rather than extremely underweight. People with anorexia obsess over food proportions and typically eat only a little amount of food. They frequently participate in exorbitant exercise as well as extreme dieting, focusing primarily on consuming the least possible amount of calories essential to subsist. People who suffer from anorexia normally have a strikingly malnourished appearance arising from the body not obtaining the nutrients it requires to sustain a healthy existence. This group of individuals has the leading mortality rate of any mental disorder as well as a tremendously extensive suicide rate in comparison to those without an eating disorder (Shiffrar;

In society today, eating disorders are rapidly gaining attention due to high fashion and tabloid glorification of it. The three main eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating. Each of these are disorders are extremely dangerous and can lead to not only physical problems, but psychological problems as well. The physical problems associated with these disorders can extend in their severity to the point of death. Eating disorders are more commonly seen in females, but men can suffer from them as well. Except for binge eating, this in terms of statistics is seen equally in men and women. There are varied treatment options for these disorders, including specialized hospitals, medication, psychotherapy, nutrition education and support groups. Eating disorders do not only take a great toll on the sufferer, but also on friends and family who surround that individual. Anorexia nervosa stands apart from the other two eating disorders aforementioned in the sense that this disorder is not solely about the food, but more so, an unhealthy way that an individual copes with emotional problems (Medline,2014).

In today’s generation, many females have a fear of gaining weight especially ranked upon young women who turn to food because of long-term depression, stress, emotional issues, physiological, and even social factors. Their main concern tends to focus on the amount of weight but yet gorge on varieties of unhealthy high calorie products (silverthorne1). In consequence females start to have Anorexia Nervosa or even Bulimia Nervosa. Even though both disorders are dangerous similarity Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia have common symptoms on an individual’s health and can even lead to termination of their life.

Eating disorders are a major category of mental disorders affecting persons in today’s world. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are the most prevalent examples of eating disorders experienced present-day. Anorexia nervosa is where individuals “maintain a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight” (Myers 640). Both bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are similar in that they are highlighted by excessive consumption of food in a limited time frame however episodes of binge-eating are not followed by behaviours, such as forced vomiting, fasting, or excessive exercise as practised in bulimia nervosa. It is important to be kept abreast about eating disorders and its respective examples as it can be diagnosed

The most commonly known eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa can be defined as “a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and are obsessed with their self-image. These people either exercise excessively or to prevent them from obtaining any more weight, they will restrict the amount of food they eat. This can lead to a person becoming dangerously thin. There are two major

The eating disorder is characterized by refusal to eat a normal amount of food, and a great fear of gaining weight or staying at a normal weight considering the person’s age and height. Other common symptoms related to Anorexia Nervosa include distorted body image and a great fear of gaining weight. The treatment for the disorder often includes of therapy and rehabilitation, although a meta-analysis covering 119 study series concluded that only 33% of the disorder sufferers fully recover, and 20% do not find treatment helpful at all, and therefore remain chronically ill (Steinhausen,