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.

Eating disorder is a term used to describe several psychological disorders characterized by abnormal eating habits. Some of the most common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is probably the most well-known of these. A person suffering from anorexia nervosa will obsess over weight gain and show unusual anxiety related to weight gain. Depending upon the type (binge-eating/purging type or restricting type) a person will either consume food and then attempt to “purge”, a term used to describe a method of forced removal of food from the body such as self-induced vomiting, or they will restrict the amount of food consumed. In most cases the person will be under healthy weight and often see themselves as average weight or even overweight. In bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders the affected person will eat excessive amounts of food. People suffering from these diseases report feeling out of control during their binge eating episodes. In bulimia nervosa binge eating episodes are followed by some method of purging whereas in binge eating disorder they are not, although the person normally expresses feelings of guilt or embarrassment afterwards. People suffering from bulimia nervosa are usually average weight which can make detection difficult. Those with binge eating disorder are normally

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.

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

It is highly likely that you personally know or know of someone who has been affected by this disorder. The specific disorder that is being referred to in this paper, an eating disorder, is Anorexia Nervosa, the restricting type. An eating disorder “involve[s] disordered eating behaviors and maladaptive ways of controlling body weight” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 335). Another well-known eating disorder is Bulimia Nervosa which is characterized by binging and purging (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 338). Bulimia is different than anorexia since victims of bulimia are often normal weight while anorexia victims are well below the average weight.

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

Many individuals nowadays suffer from many illnesses, one in particular is eating disorders. There are many types of eating disorders, but there are three common ones that are known today, which are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are not healthy, this type of disease can be very fatal and crucial to one 's health  mentally, physically, and socially. The purpose of this report is to provide background information about eating disorders, strategies to prevent this illness from occurring, and lastly potential cures and treatments that can be attained to an individual if the illness is caught early. Using this  information outsiders who are not familiar to this topic can be more aware.

Anorexia Nervosa refers to abnormal lack of appetite or lack of desire to consume food even when there is a physiological need for food. It involves self denial of appetite and eating even if they feel hungry and became underweight. Bulimia Nervosa is also a nervous disorder when person is afraid to gain weight and eats large amounts of food. Such a person indulges in episodes of rapid eating followed by vomiting, strict dieting, taking diuretics or laxatives. Binge Eating is episodes of uncontrolled eating large quantity of foods. There is desire to eat and the person eats rapidly.

I have always been intrigued with eating disorders, particularly Anorexia Nervosa. When I was 18 years of age, my mother questioned whether or not I was Anorexic and she took me to the family practitioner, who then informed me that I was three pounds shy from being considered underweight. I knew I was thin, but I was really thin, but also really proud of my size. In an African American urban environment being thin was related to illness and drug abuse. I was often teased about how thin and fragile I looked. I embraced the attention I received from being thin, and did little to change my restrictive eating habit. I wouldn’t consider myself Anorexic, but I was accustomed to eating unhealthy high calorie snacks as a meal replacement. My family practitioner recommended that I see a psychiatrist; I refused and reminded my mother how thin she was in her youth. My mother agreed that she was thin, and decided that she may have been over reacting. I never saw a psychiatrist and remained extremely thin for several years thereafter afraid to ever “get fat”. I do wonder if a psychiatrist would have diagnosed me with Anorexia Nervosa Restrictive type NOS, below is my teen profile.

In order to explore the eating disorder that is facing much adolescences during their lives, specifically anorexia nervosa, a search was conducted and various scholarly articles were assessed and integrated into the final paper of this class. The assignment today will review the articles selected.

An eating disorder is a disorder that specifically focuses on the person’s weight and these behaviors are so detrimental not only to their performance in their everyday life but to their physical health. According to Hoeksema (2014) eating disorders can be characterized in three ways which include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa can be further broken down into two types which are anorexia nervosa restricting type, and anorexia nervosa binge/purge type. Eating disorders if approached early enough can be reversed with no damage or very minimal damage to the person.

Eating disorders are characterized by a high preoccupation with weight and an intense dissatisfaction with one’s body image (Institute of Psychiatry, 2015). Some of the most common Eating Disorders (EDs) include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorder, however it is important to note that not everyone fits neatly into any of these categories and could display symptoms and behaviors interchangeably. People who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa can be characterized as having very low body weight and being involved in various weight loss activities including being highly food-restrictive and possibly over-exercising (Mascolo et al., 2012). Anorexia also has the highest mortality rate among all the mental illnesses, which includes

There are three main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. They all involve serious disturbances in weight regulation and eating habits, accompanied by adverse effects on social, psychological and physical aspects of one’s life (‘Eating disorders: About more than food’, n.d.). This essay will specifically be focusing on bulimia nervosa, as research shows a higher level of stigma associated with it, compared to other eating disorders (Roehrig & McLean, 2009).

Eating disorders, are a sickness that can come from psychological issues and it can disrupt the everyday diet. “A person with an eating disorder may have started out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spiraled out of control” (“Eating Disorder,” n.d.). The common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is when someone see’s themselves as an overweight person, so they watch what they eat since, they have a fear of becoming overweight. The disorder takes over them and their focus is to avoid becoming overweight. Bulimia nervosa is when someone eats large amounts of food at one time and not being able to control how much they take in. “Researchers are finding that eating disorders are caused by a complex interaction of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors” (“Eating Disorder,” n.d.).

Abnormal eating and an unhealthy preoccupation with ones body image is the hallmark of an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is a type of eating disorder where the individual is at least 15% below his/her expected body weight and is using various methods to stop them from gaining weight. This disorder mainly affects adolescent girls and young women. There are two categories of anorexia nervosa: restricting and binge-eating/purging. The restricting type does just what the name implies: they restrict what they eat. By severely under eating, they are able to maintain a low weight. The binge-eating/purging type eats much more food at one time than most people would eat in the same context. For example, a snack might be a whole pack