Eating Disorders Case Study Essay

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Three of the most discussed are anorexia, bulimia, and what researchers call EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). Each of the eating disorders can be fatal in their own way. What are the signs, what do they do to you and your body, and what can be done to treat the problem? Researchers have studied long and hard into these three disorders so that those questions could be answered to the best of their ability. In this paper, the outcomes of the research that was done and the thesis

You are a nurse on an inpatient psychiatric unit. J.M., a 23-year-old woman, was admitted to the psychiatric unit last night after assessment and treatment at a local hospital emergency department (ED) for “blacking out at school.” She has been given a preliminary diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. As you begin to assess her, you notice that she has very loose clothing, she is wrapped in a blanket, and her extremities are very thin. She tells you, “I don't know why I'm here. They're making a big deal about nothing.” She appears to be extremely thin and pale, with dry and brittle hair, which is very thin and patchy, and she constantly complains about being cold. As you ask questions pertaining to weight and nutrition, she

Food. It is essential for survival. Without it, people die. However, oddly enough, many struggle to live without it to accomplish the standards that our culture has created for us. We are taught that being thin is perfection and will lead to a happier life. However, lurking are the health risks that one pays for obtaining the “perfect body”. Still, along with a distorted body image, others struggle with keeping weight down and fall into the diet fads that the world parades. From movies, magazines, and television, the media also sends us messages that being fat is bad and unhealthy while being thin and beautiful is acceptable. The impact of such influences has increased eating disorders in America. These disorders do not

A major setback I have faced is suffering with an eating disorder. For five years I have struggled with this illness. I have been hospitalized, and I have been in program at The Center For Change twice Finally, I told myself that I had to get better, or I was going to die. A year ago, I chose recovery. It is quite possibly the toughest challenge I will ever face, but the grueling process of recovery has allowed me to take back my life. Fortunately, I did not go through this on my own. I have been truly blessed with the best support team which includes my family, my friends, therapists, and my Stake President and doctor, Pres. Vance. I have grown into a more confident and compassionate person by helping others with eating disorders and other

Anorexia Nervosa is usually psychological as well as possibly an eating disorder which is life-threatening well-defined by a tremendously low body weight comparative to stature, great and needless weight loss, fear of gaining weight and distorted discernment of an individual’s self-image and body. There are several clinical factors of this eating disorder, and they are the following: the victim has a tendency of fearing his normal body weight where in this case, a person fears to be fat. In other words, the fear of normal body weight is very common in this eating disorder which is observed as a pathognomonic of the situation. In the case of Joshua, his parents should understand that he fears to get fat such that he already feels that his body

Keeping in mind that she has always strove for perfection, some irrational thoughts and psychological symptoms have developed concerning her standards for both food consumption and weight. These irrational fears have led her to believe that food is bad, and since she is terribly scared of getting fat, she finds fulfillment by abiding by her restrictive diet and maintaining her abnormal weight by restricting food and using laxatives when necessary to avoid weight gain. It’s easy to see that Joan has developed an obsession with both food and her weight that has taken over her life. All of these psychological symptoms have also caused some social symptoms which have negatively impacted her relationships, mainly stemming from concern of friends and family which usually result in arguments about eating. Joan’s physiological systems are also reflecting concerning symptoms such as dry, inelastic skin, liver problems, unhealthy hair, dizziness, amenorrhea, and of course, excessive

In today's society, there is much attention being given to the subject of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia; unfortunately it is because these disorders seem to be becoming more and more common. The question that remains is whether eating disorders such as these are simply personal problems of the individuals, or if they have become a social problem that needs to be addressed more aggressively. Having grown up in this society, I see this issue as a definite social problem. To say that these increasingly common eating disorders are personal problems, implies that the causes of them are personal as well, which I believe is not the case. A social problem is something that goes against society's goals and values; it would seem

A combination of genetic, physical, social, and psychological factors may contribute to the development of an eating disorder, such as Anorexia. Anorexia is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Eating disorders effect ten million females and one million males in the United States. Also 0.3 percent of the eating disorders occur in teenage children.

An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. “Eating disorders affect 5-10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when they really aren’t. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television, movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like because they have the “ideal body” that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful

There are many different biological approaches that explain the reasons for eating disorders they all have some validity behind them to a certain extent. An eating disorder is a psychological dysfunction that causes a person to change their eating habits to eating less, or more etc.

In modern culture, women and men are becoming less satisfied with their body shape. According to a report that was done by the Federal Trade Commission, seventy percent of Americans are either trying not to maintain their weight or are trying to lose weight (Kittleson 75). To compensate for being over weight, an individual will develop an eating disorder. According to Mark Kittleson, eating disorders are when an individual eats way too much or way too little (1). There are three different types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. According to Jessica Bennett, twenty-five million people in the United States suffer from binge eating disorder and ten million women and one million men suffer from either anorexia or

The correlation between eating disorders and other psychological disorders is very important for our understanding of the causes and possible treatments for eating disorders. It is known that many people with eating disorders also fit the criteria for several DSM-IV psychological disorders. If researchers can find patterns of comorbidity between these two types of disorders they may be able to better diagnose and treat patients with both of these disorders. The question that I pose it what is the relationship between eating disorders and personality disorders(axis 11 disorders in DSM-IV)? It is important to look for comorbidity between the two disorders to determine the impact they have on each

I finally realized that I needed help after my parents asked me if I had an eating disorder. I felt angry when they asked me that, I didn’t speak to them for two days. It wasn’t that I was mad at them for caring, I was mad that they were noticing the wrong things. I left the room and sat in a different one for hours thinking that there was a more obvious disorder that could be present, but wasn’t acknowledged. That was the moment I realized that my quirks weren't really quirks. I finally realized that something was terribly wrong with my mental health, enough to sub consciously call it a disorder. I did more research online about OCD. Sure enough, I was a perfect match, at least according to google. I approached my parents about getting help.

People suffering from eating disorders cannot solely help themselves. Although they may be able to stop for a short time, in the long run they will be back in the same path of self-destruction. Kirkpatrick & Caldwell (2001) state, "Because eating disorders are a complicated mix of physical and psychological abnormalities, successful treatment always includes treatment of psychological issues as well as restoration of a healthy diet" (p. 131). Trained therapists should treat eating disorders. The severity of the disorders will determine the need for outpatient therapy or an in-hospital program (Matthews, 2001, p. 178). There are many goals of therapy but the return to normalcy is the main goal. The eating disorder sufferer needs to restore and maintain a normal weight as well as develop normal eating and exercise routines. Kirkpatrick and Caldwell (2001) state,

Eating Disorder Case Study Mother is concerned that daughter is not eating enough, restricting food intake for 8 months because she feels fat, feels she needs to lose ten pounds, feels that her thighs and stomach are to large, reporting 35 lb weight loss over last 8 months, denies any eating problems, began menarche at age 16 periods normally regular, stop three months ago, exercises daily 20 min. to 2 hours, experiences low energy, chronic constipation and lightheadedness, favorite TV show is “America’s Next Top Model” and reports “feeling down in the dumps” for about nine months, college student, good grades, finding it difficult to concentrate, admits to feeling worthless and having no