Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, Volume 5 (DMS-5), Shelly’s low body weight, her lack of food intake, and her purging were all qualifying symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa. In addition to these symptoms, she exhibited the additional symptom of a fear of gaining weight. She explained to her therapist that she feared weighing as much as her twin sister, even though her sister only weighed 100 pounds.

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.

Anorexic danger close to dying after weight fell to 35kg, recounts the story of a 20-year-old girl, Korey Baruta and her battle with an eating disorder, anorexia. Korey is a dancer, and constantly receives criticism on her size 10 appearance. The disorder first develops at the age of 15 and lasts for four years, until she is forced to seek help at an eating disorder clinic. Once arriving at the clinic, she is required to immediately transfer to an emergency ward, here she is given a warning on her life. Baruta has lost a large percentage of her body mass, has been diagnosed with “kidney failure, liver problems, and a heart murmur”, due to this loss in weight.

Diagnosing potential Anorexia nervosa is not always easy, and Alicia’s case, based on information given and her representation, is not clear cut. Researchers argue that the diagnosis has to be done carefully and potential ambiguities have to be resolved (Baer & Blais, 2010). For example, some researchers have argued that one criterion, such as a fear of being fat, can decrease significantly when the person actually loses some weight (Surgenor & Maguire, 2013). For reasons like this, selecting the primary question, namely whether or not the patient has Anorexia

Effects of anorexia are mostly seen on the outside of the victim’s body, but do not be fooled. This detrimental eating disorder affects one’s mind just as much as it would the body. What Anorexia does to the mind is that it distorts the way one views their body. Victims of anorexia become fixated on their body image and overly critical about their flaws and weight. Even being obviously underweight, Anorexics will continuously deny that they have a problem and continue with their fatal practices. One will continue to diet and take weight loss medication to get as thin as they see fit. The chemistry of the brain changes completely; your memory becomes bad, the brain’s ability to think is off, and extreme mood swings are prevalent. (Smith,

In order to provide meaning and explanation of this study, our group consulted books and internet sources to gather information of the topic. This section does not only present but also provide relevant information of the topic.

One perspective on eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa places the blame on society’s obsession with dieting and the pressure for thinness among women. A Gallup Poll showed that 31% of women and 21% of men are trying to lose weight (Wilke, 2014). Between 40%-60% of girls in elementary school are concerned with their weight (Smolak, 2011). Society’s image of the ideal women is an extremely thin form, really without shape. Barbie dolls and other toy models display unrealistic body shapes. “The standards for thinness have grown increasingly strict and have become more unrealistic over time” (Helgeson, 2017). The media normalizes dieting and excessive thinness and also encourages individuals to evaluate their bodies and to use extreme measures

There are three common eating disorders; one of the eating disorders is anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is commonly described as someone that is starving their body so they can either be or retain a “skinny” body. What they don’t realize is while they may have a thin body they are not giving their body the nutrients it needs and the result could be an “upset in the normal functions of hormones. For girls, this means the body is unable to produce enough of the female hormone estrogen because it does not have enough fat. This will cause an absence of menstrual cycles, called amenorrhea. For boys, anorexia causes a decrease in the production of the male hormone testosterone, which results in a loss of sexual interest.”

Nowadays, a big social issue is to fit in society, to be like everybody else. No matter where you are from, you see people on television and magazine showing you what you should look like and what is it to be “normal”. There is this normalization of society, and if you are not like everybody else, you are seen as abnormal or deviant. We live in a society that is changing, but at the same time, this society does not like change. In this paper, I am going to talk about why the society tries to normalize people and cast apart people who are or want to be different.

In the United States, about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder, and out of these illnesses, anorexia nervosa is considered the most lethal (“Mental Disorders”). Anorexia nervosa, or simply anorexia, is a psychiatric disorder characterized by an unrealistic fear of weight gain, self-starvation, and conspicuous distortion of body image. The individual is obsessed with becoming increasingly thin and thus limits food intake to the point where health is compromised, which can result in death. The cause of anorexia is not fully understood. It is believed to develop from a mix of physical, emotional, and social factors. Over time, however, researchers have found possible neurological bases for the predisposition, maintenance,

As Brandy got into Oklahoma State University, she lost control of her disorder. She no longer had any normal eating habits. She is becoming quite miserable with herself, despite appearing to be thriving in everything she attempts at Oklahoma State. Her disorder has caused her to become susceptible to social pressures of thinness. She has finally sought

April is 16 years old. She attends Sanford Magnet high school. She has started seeing a therapist because she throws up most of her food after eating. April is always worrying about her weight and how she look. She also worries about making captain of the cheerleading squad. She thinks that she is too over weight to perform all the stunts that is required for tryouts. April eats light meals every day to watch her weight. She “losses her mind” every time her mother cooks a big dinner and makes her eat everything on her plate.

Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa has a major impact on the

Anorexia nervosa, often shortened to “anorexia”, is an eating disorder in which the patient has “an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight” (Hensrud, 2014). Patients see themselves as fat or overweight, even though they are already dangerously thin. Many common signs and habits of

Andrea is a nineteen year old freshman seeking help becasue she may have an eating disorder. Her friends have noticed she is startlingly thin while Andrea still sees herself as fat. Andrea and her friends believe she may become ill from her weight. Andrea keeps her weight low by limiting what she eats to almost nothing and drinking only eight cups of water. She says that she thinks about food while not eating but will sometimes give into her food cravings. When giving in, Andrea will binge-eat food. To then lose the calories she gained while binging, she will throw up the food. Andrea began to think about her weight two years ago when she was still in high school. At the time her parents were fighting and had also thought of divorcing. Andrea saw that when she lost weight, people gave more spotlight to her though she still thought of herself as being fat. While there are many theorized causes to an eating disorder, biological and sociocultural are the two strongest reasonings so far.