Eating Disorders : Bulimia 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.

People use food to cope with their feelings instead of using it to satisfy their hunger. People can become bulimic to gain a higher self-esteem. It is not a response to hunger; it is a response to depression, stress, and low self-esteem. Bulimia has no concrete cause; researchers are beginning to think it is caused by dissatisfaction of the body (“Bulimia: Symptoms, Causes...” 1-4). Men are also susceptible to becoming bulimic. It is the drive for thinness, perfectionism, and the fear of giving up that triggers eating disorders in men. Men are under much pressure to look strong and maintain control. They are pressured to take care of the financial worries and be the foundation for a family. “Around 33% of men have an eating disorder” (Hall 1-4). Even though it’s women who are mostly affected by bulimia, it’s still a serious issue when it happens to a man. Even though stressful events are reasons for eating disorders, they aren’t the only reasons.

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.

Somewhere across the globe there are children waking up with empty stomachs, scavenging for any scrap of food they can find. For some people in America though, ironically enough, there are those who purposefully do not eat, or push back up what they have eaten. Women and men in the American society are influenced by a beauty ideal so powerful that has taken peoples lives through starvation, despite being surrounded by food. This phenomenon is known as bulimia. Bulimia, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is “a serious eating disorder … characterized by compulsive overeating usually followed

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.

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

Contrary to popular believe, eating disorders are not a thing of the past. They are unfortunately very prevalent; eating disorders affect up to 30 million Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide. The Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, "Eating Disorders 101 Guide: A Summary of Issues, Statistics and Resources," published September 2002, revised October 2003, http://www.renfrew.org. What an extremely disturbing fact! With so many people are struggling, why are the differences between anorexia and bulimia so misunderstood by the majority of the population? Anorexia and Bulimia are very severe eating disorders that are described as an unnatural relationship with food. The body of the individual that is diagnosed goes through extreme changes that ultimately cause havoc on the body and its systems. People who often suffer from these disorders tend to be overly concerned with perfection and the attainment of it. They may feel as if they have absolutely no control when it comes to some parts of their lives, so they achieve control through one of these eating disorders. Anorexics and bulimics often use the eating disorder as a way to muddle through problems from the past, as well as those of present times. Any person can have anxieties when it comes to his or her weight however, for anorexics and bulimics, it’s a life altering obsession. The sufferer may be known to become isolated from friends and family, not realizing that the disease affects not only his or

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?

Teens today are always surrounded by advertisements of images of thinness. When they turn on the TV, read magazines or go on the internet. These advertisements are usually promoting something to sell by using images of thin and beautiful people that seem unreal. Both boys and girls feel societies’ pressure to have “the perfect body” so they go through extreme measures like self starvation or over exercising to achieve their goals of the “perfect image”(Elizabeth Weiss Vollstadt,page 26). Eating disorders are mostly developed by women. Although men also develop eating disorders but they only make up 5-10 percent of those affected by eating disorders, leaving women with a huge majority of 90-95 percent affected(Elizabeth Weiss Vollstadt, page 8). Girls who develop the eating disorder anorexia are usually Caucasian and middle to upper class, and are also

Our society’s idealistic beauty standards has influenced many people to take drastic measures in order to obtain their body goal, thus causing an eating disorder. An eating disorder is a psychological condition that is characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. There are three types of eating disorders; which are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating.These disorders affect all aspects of a person’s life, including their psychological, emotional, and physical health. There are many factors that contribute to individuals developing eating disorders including: genetics, family pressures, athletics, lack of knowledge, and the media. We need to make people aware that no age, race , gender ,or sexual orientation is

Anorexia is a kind of eating disorder disease. It makes people lose more weight than normal. The people with these disease see themselves as overweight, even when they are not. The most people evicted by this disorder are females. Also, it is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women. Furthermore, these sickness scored the highest death rates of any mental health. In addition, it has two subtypes, and both subtypes are very dangers illnesses that need help from professional people. The first type is restricting. The people with the first type there behaviors usually be like skip meals, fasting, and count the calories in unnatural way. The second type is purging. It is similar to the first type. But it

Using the cases of two eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa), or obesity, one can determine that health and illnesses are just as much of a societal and cultural issue, as they are a medical issue. Eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia are both mental illnesses. Anorexia nervosa involves starving oneself to avoid gaining weight, while bulimia involves binge eating followed by purging to avoid weight gain (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Both of these disorders stem from a fear of weight gain, and can result in health problems and sometimes death. Meanwhile, obesity is the condition of an individual who is greatly overweight. This condition can also result in medical issues. Societal and cultural factors such as

Are Single-Parent Families Different from Two-Parent Families in the Treatment of Adolescent Bulimia Nervosa Using Family-Based Treatment?