Eating Disorders And Anorexia Nervosa

Eating Disorders are a set of serious disorders with underlying psychiatric foundations. An eating disorder occurs when exercise, body weight and shape become an unhealthy obsession (Stein, Merrick, & Latzer, 2011). People with eating disorders take physical concerns to the extremes that they take on abnormal eating habits. There are a variety of cases that lead to an eating disorder and can affect both men and women, however its prevalence primarily occur in adolescence (Ison & Kent, 2010; Stein et al., 2011). The complexity and challenges that occur during adolescents predisposes teens to developing an eating disorder. The period of adolescence is one of intense change, which can bring with it a great deal of stress, confusion and anxiety (Allen, Byrne, Oddy & Crosby, 2013). According to Wade, Keski-Rahkonen and Hudson (2011) 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). There are three main categories of eating disorders, anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Individuals with AN loose more weight than what is considered to be healthy for their particular height, age, gender, and development (Allen et al., 2013). In BN individuals binge eat and purge to compensate for the excessive eating. Purging may include induce vomiting or intake of laxatives that lead to bowel

Many people are unaware of the background of eating disorders. Women are more likely than men to develop an eating disorder and they usually develop in childhood before the age of 20 (Ross-Flanigan 1). Women as well as men can develop an eating disorder; it is just more likely for a woman to develop one. Eating disorders are usually developed in adolescent or childhood years when a person is influenced the most. Also “Eating disorders are psychological conditions that involve overeating, voluntary starvation, or both. Anorexia nervosa, anorexic bulimia, and binge eating are the most well-known types of eating disorders” (Ross-Flanigan 1). Many people assume that an eating disorder is when a person staves themselves; they do not realize that it can involve overeating as well. Some eating disorders also involve purging, but not all. People with an eating disorder fear gaining weight even when they are severely underweight. They do not lack an appetite (Ross-Flanigan 1). These people are

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.

Eating disorders take the lives of millions of teenagers and adults each year, recently becoming the highest mortality rate of any mental illness – but why? Choosing not to eat appears to be a problem with an obvious solution; how could so many Americans be suffering from something that could easily be avoided? The answer is simple — eating disorders are not weight-loss plans gone wrong; they are serious illnesses that pose great health risks. Simply skipping meals does not begin to describe the different aspects of this disease. Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and binge eating are only a few of the many types of eating disorders that effect millions of individuals each year. In most cases, the victims of these illnesses have extremely low self-confidence and view themselves as overweight, regardless of their actual size. Researchers and scientists have gathered different statistics on the causes of abnormal eating habits. While there is no obvious or direct motive, these dietary issues can be the result of

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.

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 in which the individual has a distorted body self-image and an intense fear of weight gain. The individual intentionally restricts daily food intake, which causes alarming weight loss and results in self-imposed starvation. Internal medicine physicians, Brown and Mehler (2015) from Denver Health Medical Center warned, “Starvation induces protein and fat catabolism that leads to loss of cellular volume and function, resulting in adverse effects on, and atrophy of, the heart, brain, liver, intestines, kidneys, and muscles” (p. 11). Medical complications resulting from starvation affect nearly every major organ system in the adolescent body, some more severely than others. While there are 11 major organ systems

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.

The social issue that is going to be discussed in this paper is Bulimia Nervosa. Bulimia nervosa is defined as “an often-debilitating eating disorder with a bio psychosocial set of risk factors.” (Bernacchi, 2017). Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorders that effects approximately 1 to 1.5 percent of the population within a 12-month period. “It is estimated that between 5 percent and 10 percent of all post pubescent girls and women suffer from an eating disorder in the United States (Kimmel, 2013).” A primary diagnostic characteristic of this disorder is experiencing recurrent episodes of binge eating, which is then followed

In the United States of America 20 million women, and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life. There are three types of eating disorders, Anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating. Eating disorders can be life-threatening conditions that can affect a person’s physical health, and emotional. Something that serious has people wondering what exactly is causing these people to risk their health on it?

In US today, over 30 million men, women, and children suffer from an eating disorder. The most common eating disorders are; Anorexia, Binge eating, and Bulimia. Why do people resort to something so life threatening? Many people are turning towards eating disorders because they don’t accept who they are. Eating disorders are a mental illness that can have dangerous effects on the human body, and several people are involved in this bad habit.

“Anna is a twenty-one year old woman who has struggled with anorexia nervosa for several years. She blames herself for developing the eating disorder and not being able to control her eating and purging. Anna’s family and friends cannot understand how someone as smart and thoughtful as her could care so much about her physical appearance and what others think of her. They also feel frustrated that Anna cannot recognize that she is hurting herself and those around her. Such comments from others increases Anna’s deep sense of shame about her eating disorder, so she further conceals her struggles with food and weight. Anna isolates herself from others because she fears that they can’t understand her pain and suffering.

Although eating disorders have been known since the early 70s, they have become such a major health issue in today’s generation. There are three different types of eating disorders, Anorexia nervosa which is the act of self-starvation, Bulimia Nervosa which is a binge and purge process where one would eat an abnormal amount of food in one sitting the throw it back up or using laxatives to rid the body of food. Lastly there is Binge eating which is the hardest to detect because those who binge eat still look decently healthy they usually workout a lot, but when they are alone they consume large amounts of food. This disease can be found in men and women of all ages.

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.