Eating Disorders : Anorexia Nervosa

Eating disorders are mental disorders that can have a serious physical complications. There are two main types of eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. These are complex disorders focusing on issues of eating, body weight, body shape. People who intentially starve themselves suffer from an eating disorder called anorexia this disorder usually begins in young people around the time of puberty, involves extreme weight loss due to starving themselves . People with bulimia consume large amounts of food and then rid there bodies of the excess calories by vomiting abusing laxatives, taking enemas or over exercising.

Anorexia is an eating disorder that struggles with the fear of gaining weight and refuses to be healthy. Another eating disorder is Bulimia, which is when you overeat followed by forced vomiting and excessive exercise. Binge Eating is one of the most common eating disorders along with Anorexia and Bulimia, Binge eating is when you lose control over one’s eating. All of these common eating disorders all suffer from guilt or depression. “Individuals with bulimia and binge eating eat large amounts of food to reduce stress” (CEDC). They also could have risky behaviors, such as dealing with drugs or alcohol or even death. People with Anorexia or Bulimia are very concerned with being overweight or in other words fat.

Nowadays, when people emphasis more and more on healthy lifestyles, both exercise and food intake have become a big part of the consideration. With the goals of being fit and losing weight, some people eat irregularly or do not eat at all. As a result, eating disorders seem more often on news and reports. However, some people still view it as a joke. With the increasing number of people diagnosed with eating disorders, people should raise awareness on the effects of eating disorders and treat them seriously.

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.

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by refusal to maintain body weight over a minimum level considered normal for age and height, along with distorted body image, fear of fat and weight gain, and amenorrhea (absence of menstruation). Bulimia nervosa is characterized by binge eating followed by purging. These behaviors should occur at least twice a week for three months. Binge eating disorder typically

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.

Anorexia is a very serious eating disorder that causes your mind and your body to be completely obsessive about staying thin; also there have been a few cases where patients have taken self-starvation so far that it becomes life threating. There are many signs and symptoms to anorexia, a few include but are not limited to, “the refusal to eat, the denial of hunger, social withdrawal, unhealthy thin appearance, and lack of emotions” (Eating Disorders). Bulimia eating disorder is

Eating Disorders (ED) are a real “epidemic” plaguing industrialized and developed societies, affecting mostly adolescents and young adults (Benas & Gibb 2011). In general, the flawed thinking of people suffering from such diseases is characterized by an obsession with perfection of the body. The impact that eating disorders have on women has always been more prevalent than on males. (Benas & Gibb 2011; Polivy & Herman 2002). The culture-bound syndromes are constellations of signs and symptoms, that are restricted to certain the cultural pressure to lose weight, which is considered a key element of the etiology of these disorders, therefore, along with biological, psychological and family factors have been generating an excessive preoccupation with the body, an abnormal fear of becoming fat and anxiety markedly accompanied by changes in the body schema. These are therefore the characteristics of Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The following ten literature review attempt to demonstrate and support the theory of cognitive approach on eating disorders, briefly understanding the neurobiological mechanisms.

There are two main categorizes when it comes to eating disorders. The first is anorexia nervosa and the second is bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is described as a “body image disturbance together with a relentless pursuit of thinness, often to the point of starvation” (Silva, 2007, pg. 285). Anorexia in simple terms can be described as not eating. Whereas bulimia nervosa is different, it is the act of eating large amounts of food and later on purging it to get rid of it.

The two most common eating disorders are bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. Both disorders, primarily affect young women, therefore the majority of the research on eating disorders has been done with women subjects. The onset of bulimia is between adolescence and early adulthood while the onset of anorexia is between early and late adolescence. Not only is the onset different but the disorders are unique. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by loss of control over eating which leads to food binges. These episodes are interspersed with episodes of purging, such as vomiting or laxative abuse, to keep weight down. The goal of anorexia is also to keep weight down , but to a

Eating disorders are in no way, to be considered “no big deal”. It affects the lives of many poor unsuspecting human beings and in some cases, fatally takes lives. This topic presents many things that most people don’t know. Such as the fact that bulimia nervosa has similar symptoms to using the drug heroin! Rotten teeth, pale and dry skin, and even failing organs are usually signs that someone may have bulimia. There are always key signs and factors to recognizing an eating disorder. Eating disorders are serious. We all should be aware of the affect it has on an individual, and if anyone knows or sees a person struggling with an eating disorder, outreaching and a simple hand in the right direction can save a life. Eating disorders get in the mind of an individual, then ruin the body, then finally ruin the mind.

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 is a disorder dealing tremendously with peoples emotions. It is often defined by the persons persistent need to lose weight by refraining from food. Bulimia is a disorder prolonged by a person’s emotions. It often includes the person having a distorted image of their body and an obsessive urge to be thin, where sessions of excess overeating are followed up with self-loath and some form of purging. Purging includes taking laxatives, self-induced vomiting, and fasting. Binge eating is an eating disorder characterized by a person who intakes vast amounts of food in a short time span. During an episode of binge eating, the victim feels as if they cannot control

Another eating disorder is called bulimia nervosa. It is more common than anorexia but is just as life-threatening. It is characterized by recurring episodes of binge eating. Those who have bulimia usually feel no control over these episodes. Afterwards, the person feels guilty over this habit and will try to compensate for it, typically by vomiting, fasting, using laxatives, excessive exercise, or a combination of all these things. About 80% of those who have bulimia are female (nationaleatingdisorders.org, 2016). Bulimia can be triggered when women try to diet, fail at doing so, then binge on food as a reaction. Similar to anorexia, bulimic people normally have low self-esteem about their body image.

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder defined by the DSM 5 as a disorder characterized by the client displaying:1. Restricted food intake (energy) proportional to sex, age and developmental trajectory that leads to weight loss. 2. Processing fear of becoming overweight in spite of being underweight. 3. Dysfunctional way of experiencing one’s body weight or shape. Perceived unfavorable view of one’s body or shape (self image), and or lack of seriousness concern or denial of the seriousness of low body weight, (APA, 2013).