How Low Self-esteem Effects Anorexia Essay

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.

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).

Most people with anorexia have a distorted image of their body. An anorexic will look into the mirror and see fat, even if they are sickly thin. Most commonly, anorexia begins in the teen years. This may be related to the common self-image problems that many teens suffer from. Anorexia tends to be more common in females than in males, and early intervention seems to be the key when dealing with this disorder. When left untreated, anorexia can lead to a whole slew of physical problems. Health problems related to anorexia include osteoporosis, kidney damage or failure, heart problems, and even death. Anorexia also affects the brain, as a person starves themself their metabolism changes. This change in the body causes a person not to think clearly or make good decisions. As anorexia progresses, a person will begin to have irrational behavior. For example, a person suffering from anorexia will often make rules about the amount of food they are “allowed” to consume. Others may start to purge themselves after eating even the tiniest bit of food, which is known as Bulimia. Anorexia can also bring on another psychological disorder; Depression. Depression is a mental illness that causes a person to feel sad and hopeless most of the time. People that suffer from depression will lose interest in things that they previously enjoyed, speak slower than normal, have trouble concentrating and remembering things, and be preoccupied by death

Beauty standards in the media are one of many reasons feeding and eating disorders are a rising problem. The unrealistic body types of being extremely thin, in pop culture, are influential factors for many teens, especially teen girls. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), anorexia nervosa is a “restriction of energy intake, intense fear of gaining weight, and a disturbance in the perception of one’s body size” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals diagnosed with anorexia tend to place a high value on their shape and weight, which can interfere with their daily lives. Individuals diagnosed tend to view of their body shape in a distorted representation. The motivation to become

Often, anorexia surfaces around puberty, which is of course when the young person is searching for self identity; if the foundations of this are weak, for whatever reason, perhaps it is not surprising that this is when the illness develops. It seems likely, though, that all sorts of things are happening within the individual psyche prior to this, which could potentially be worked on earlier, with the aim of preventing the full-blown illness from developing.

It’s only human to wish you looked different or could fix something about yourself. But when a more serious notion with being thin takes over your eating habits, thoughts, and life, it’s a sign of an eating disorder. When you have anorexia, the desire to lose weight becomes more important than anything else. You may even lose the ability to see yourself as you truly are. Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that affects people of all ages. It can damage your health and threaten your life. But you are not alone. There’s help available when you’re ready to make a change. Everyone

This article is relevant to the research on anorexia nervosa because it explains the hidden factors behind eating disorders along with a detailed study on how traumatic events can affect body image. The study ascertained that self-image, emotional stability, and trauma history are all influences on psychological disorders such as anorexia

Anorexia Nervosa is an emotional disorder that causes its victims to have an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. It is known to be the third most common eating disorder among adolescents. Many who suffer from the disorder have a strong fear of gaining weight and they 're very determined to prevent any weight gain. AN patients are also incapable of recognizing the severity of their condition. In the article entitled, "A Factor Analysis of the Meanings of Anorexia Nervosa: Intrapsychic, Relational, and Avoidant Dimensions and Their Clinical Correlates", Enrica Marzola explains, "AN sufferers often refuse treatments, show poor compliance with therapy leading to high dropout rates, relapse, and high mortality" (Marzola 2). Marzola examines how many patients become very attached to their illness and do not wish to be recovered from it. In addition, Not only do many AN patients believe that the disorder has help them gain their ideal body image, but they 've also described their starvation as a way to escape from any negative emotions, strengthen their identity, and reveals their distress. Enrica Marzola also addresses, "These instruments confirmed that AN sufferers experience a

People with anorexia see themselves as overweight even though they are dangerously thin. The process of eating becomes an obsession to them. Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder, which usually co-exist with other disorder such as, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. There are many biological and environmental factors that play a major role in developing anorexia. Genetics is one of the biological factors that may play a role. The tie between anorexia and one’s genes is still being heavily researched. Nutritional deficiencies and irregular hormone functions can as while. Some environmentally factors could be like a family or childhood traumas such as sexual abuse. Peer pressure among friends and co-workers to be thin and careers that promote being thin and weight loss such as, ballet and modeling can also play an important

Anorexics put other people’s feelings in front of theirs. They also feel that the only thing in their lives is food and their weight and this shows that they have low self-esteem for themselves. “Signs and symptoms are noticeable weight loss, becoming withdrawn, excessive exercise, fatigue, always being cold, and muscle weakness” (www.mirror-mirror.org 1). There are many more signs and symptoms for this illness. “An estimated 10

For this interview I looked at anorexia in one of my close friends. I chose to interview a friend of mine who we will call Jessica for the sake of this paper. Jessica is a 21 year old American woman who has been diagnosed with Anorexia since she was 16. Jessica is 5’6 and when she was diagnosed with her disorder she was 5’4 and weighed 90 pounds which for her height at the time was considered to be severely underweight. Jessica still struggles with many symptoms of this disorder; however, she has been able to gain weight and is considered to be on the lower end of the average scale. In addition, Jessica faces many of the symptoms that those with anorexia experience as described by Comer in Abnormal Psychology. The main symptom that Jessica deals with as a result of anorexia is a form of anorexia called restricting-type anorexia nervosa where Jessica restricts her food

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

Anorexia has dangerous effects on the body and the mind. It has the highest rate of death of any mental illness. Between 5% and 20% of people who develop the disease eventually die from it (Lee, 2008). It may start as simple dieting, but can quickly roller coaster out of control such as not eating at all. The person’s main focus is food, dieting, and the fear of weight gain. Others see them as being very thin but they themselves see a distorted fat image when they look in the mirror.

Self esteem is caused by one thinking of how they are overall whether it is looks or way of thinking. People who mostly have low self esteem is by looking at other people and wanting either something they have and they can not have for themselves whether is appearance or something the other possesses or owns. People with low self esteem lack confidence and this is the case amongst people who are suffering with anorexia. They lack the confidence of having appearances and image. These sufferers lose a substantial amount at first then it leads to total starvation. Total starvation has consequences. One of the consequences is having low pulse, blood pressure, and blood sugar. The group of anorexia people believe that they are not fit and have to continue doing so to fit in. They lose weight rapidly and they believe for this enormous weight loss they believe this is a good start to fitting right in with

Low self-esteem plays a prominent role in many multifactorial theories of the etiology of eating disorders.