Diagnosis Eating disorders are becoming more common in the Modern Era. Millions of people all across the U.S. are being diagnosed with an eating disorder. Each eating disorder that an individual can be diagnosed with has different characteristics. When questioning if someone has an eating disorder, the individual typically begins to eat differently than usual if even at all and cares more about their appearance and body weight. There are different stages to one’s illness that determines the severity that the illness has on an individual. The DSM-5 has found the “anorexia nervosa is a mental and physical disease that was recognized in France in the 19th century, usurped for England by Queen Victoria’s physician and subsequently …show more content…
With this comes the possibility of having low blood pressure as well as swelling in the arms and legs. Women could experience an absence in their menstruation. One’s fingers could have a bluish discoloration. Without a regular intake of food an individual isn’t getting the usual amount of energy produced, resulting in a great amount of fatigue. Insomnia is another symptom resulting from low energy levels. An individual who has a fear of gaining weight isn’t going to want to drink liquids, as much as they won’t eat food leading to hydration. The skin of an individual with Anorexia Nervosa Disorder may be dry and/or a yellowish color. The hair of an individual could become thin and break or fall out. An individual may experience some of these symptoms as well as have behavioral and emotional symptoms. This includes an individual who is serious about restricting what they eat and might exercise excessively. After binge eating food an individual usually “self induces vomiting to get rid of the food and may include use of laxatives, enemas, diet aids or herbal products.” (Mayo Clinic par 3) Emotionally, individuals are usually depressed because they see themselves as a “fat” person, regardless of how others view them. This symptom could make for an individual to be irritable or have a social withdrawal and a lack of emotion. Everyone handles their behavior differently in different environments. When eating dinner, an
Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.
Samantha Callahan, Department of Psychology, Lindenwood University; Danielle Patrick, Department of Psychology, Lindenwood University; Sara Roderick, Department of Psychology, Lindenwood University; Kahla Stygar, Department of Psychology, Lindenwood University.
Topic: What is causing young adults and teens to develop eating disorders and how can we help them?
It has been found that eating disorders are most common in the western and industrialized culture where food is abundant. This is because these individuals attach a lot of importance to their physical appearance and are willing to do anything to get the dream figure. An eating disorder is not just watching what one eats and exercising on a daily basis but is rather an illness that causes serious disturbances in eating behaviour, such as great and harmful cutback of the consumption of food as well as feelings of serious anxiety about their body shape or mass. They would start to stop themselves to go out anywhere just so that they could work out and burn all of the calories of a meal or snack that they had scoffed earlier. Two of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The regular description of a patient with either disease would be a youthful white female, with an upper social standing in a predictably socially competitive environment.
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).
Forty-three published abstracts were retrieved from PubMed database and three were retrieved from CINAHL database, for a total of 46 articles for potential inclusion in the review. Three duplicates were then removed, yielding 43 articles for potential inclusion. Two articles were excluded because they are commentaries. Three articles were excluded because they are reviews. One article was excluded because it is a case study. 14 articles were excluded because they do not include a mindful eating intervention. Two articles were excluded because they do not focus on weight or weight-related co-morbidities. One article was excluded because it focuses on anorexia nervosa or bulimia. One article was
The four sections that follow review the article “A qualitative study of transgender individuals experiences in residential addiction treatment settings: stigma and inclusivity” by Lyons, T. Shannon, K., Pierre, L., Small, W., Krüsi, A., Kerr, T. (2015).
I thought the chapter in the textbook about eating disorders was very interesting. This is a very real and current issue in our country today. And as I learned in the reading, it affects many countries throughout the world, not just the United States. According to the PsychWatch section on page 281, “Eating Disorders Across the World”, non-Western countries are starting to be exposed to more Western and United States television and magazine advertisements, and this is resulting in more cases of eating disorders in these countries. Both men and women are affected by anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. The statistics show that more women than men have these eating disorders. But it is hard to say if this is true, or if just more women seek help.
Eating disorders have become an increasing public health problem once thought to be an affliction amongst young women, now an epidemic across culture and gender boundaries. Anorexia gives rise to serious socio-economic and bio-psychological circumstances of our ever vast, growing society. Awareness of eating disorders have increased but perhaps only in proportion to its advancement of its research and treatment. That which still leaves us in a position for a much greater demand for education and heightened awareness of this perplexing disease.
People with anorexia nervosa have a tendency to look in the mirror and see their body as overweight and ugly even when in reality they are dangerously thin. A sufferer of anorexia nervosa can be underweight, emaciated with protruding bones or a sunken appearance. They can experience fatigue, dizziness or even fainting. The nails become brittle, the hair can fall out, and women can even experience loss of menstruation or irregularities in their menstrual cycle (Timberline, 2005).
In the 1920’s being large was considered to be a sign of beauty as the artworks of this period attest,
According to the National eating disorders (NEDC) website: Every 60 minutes someone dies of an eating disorder related death. Over 30 million people in the United States are struggling with an eating disorder, and 5 in 200 people are struggling with just Bulimia or Anorexia alone, says Pearl, on people.com. People need to understand Eating Disorders are not a choice, and they are not to be glamorized, NEDC says, they are deadly mental disorders, that can affect anyone. Singer Demi Lovato has become an advocate for eating disorder help and even said herself, “Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, not lifestyle choices”. If more people were correctly educated about eating disorders, they could be at
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
Brewerton, Timothy D. "Eating disorders, trauma, and comorbidity: Focus on PTSD." Eating disorders 15.4 (2007): 285-304.
There are many moments in life when we are faced with a choice to either change or stay the same. When it comes to changing a way of life that you have become accustomed to, it is often easier to stay the same, even when it negatively impacts you. And when it comes to my eating disorder, I chose to stay the same for much too long, and that decision had several unexpected consequences.