Orthorexia Nervosa

Many people are unaware of the background of eating disorders. Women are more likely than men to develop an eating disorder and they usually develop in childhood before the age of 20 (Ross-Flanigan 1). Women as well as men can develop an eating disorder; it is just more likely for a woman to develop one. Eating disorders are usually developed in adolescent or childhood years when a person is influenced the most. Also “Eating disorders are psychological conditions that involve overeating, voluntary starvation, or both. Anorexia nervosa, anorexic bulimia, and binge eating are the most well-known types of eating disorders” (Ross-Flanigan 1). Many people assume that an eating disorder is when a person staves themselves; they do not realize that it can involve overeating as well. Some eating disorders also involve purging, but not all. People with an eating disorder fear gaining weight even when they are severely underweight. They do not lack an appetite (Ross-Flanigan 1). These people are

It is often driven by a desire to optimize health by restricting food intake and avoiding certain food. Orthorexic individual could potentially have psychosocial issues correspondingly. Chronic worry regarding imperfect health, sense of guilt and self-hatred when the ‘wrong’ type of food is taken, excessive frustration when their diet or food practices is disrupted are often reported. These behaviors are likely to encourage the development of stricter diet or urge to self-punishment. Orthorexic individuals and anorexia individuals share some common features, high need to exert control, high trait anxiety and perfectionism. Both would treat their ability to follow their choice of diet as a sign of self-discipline and an achievement. However, orthorexic individuals are more likely to show off their eating habits and value themselves of superiority. They are at a higher risk of social isolation due to their behavior and belief to stay in complete control of their surroundings (Koven, & Abry,

Eating disorder, Bulimia is an Axis I clinical disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder also written as DSM-IV-TR. The story on this case analysis was performed on Wanda Hoffman a 24 year old woman who presented with the behavior since age 18 after she became a college student. She was overeating in the context of new academic and social demand then inducing vomiting and often skipping lunch meal. The behaviors she exhibited meet most criteria for a diagnosis of eating disorder, Bulimia. Because Wanda exhibits behaviors in each of the diagnostic criteria for eating, disorder, Bulimia it assists us in ruling out other diagnosis.

Seems as though clean eating foods are the order of the day. So much so, some people are taking their eating to a whole other unhealthy level called orthorexia nervosa.

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

According to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website, eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses causing serve disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. People with eating disorders often have obsessions with food, their body weight, and their shape. There is, however, a difference between an eating disorder and a diet. It is important to know the difference. Eating disorders are a daily struggle for 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States (Eating Disorder Hope). An eating disorder is a compulsion to avoid eating in order to lose weight while a diet is cutting down eating or healthier eating in order to lose weight. The three types of an eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. All three disorders are important and they all deserve immediate treatment. No matter what eating disorder someone has, it can resort in organ damage and sometimes even death.

According to the DSM-5, eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating–related behavior that results in non-normative eating patterns which leads to impaired physical and psychosocial functioning, (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating with inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain. Binge eating is described as eating an amount of food definitely larger than normal with a sense of lack of control. Compensatory behaviors include misuse of laxatives, self-induced vomiting, diuretics, fasting and excessive exercise, (Comer, 2014) . Another key feature is

Many children and adolescents not only express dissatisfaction with their figure, shape and weight, but also exhibit disordered eating behavior, such as binge eating (eating a large amount of food with a sense of lack of control), food restriction, laxative abuse and vomiting. For children and adolescents, eating disorders can overlap in many instances. As an example, some children alternate between periods of anorexia and bulimia. Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood. However, research has shown that they can start in childhood, too. Females are much more vulnerable. Only an estimated 5% to 15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male. With binge eating, the number rises to 35%

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.

There are other feeding-eating disorders as anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa that “typically affect adolescent and young adult woman” (Oltmanns & Emery, 2015, p263).

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.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-V provides a thorough definition of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). The definition aids in clarifying how AFRID is distinct from other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, and is not associated with the absence of food or culturally authorized practice. This definition can best help to understand and properly diagnose a client that exhibits the characteristics of a eating or feeding disorder such as Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

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

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are one of the most common eating disorders that are characterized by persistence of disturbance in eating behavior according to the DSM-5 (APA, 2013; Butcher, Hooley, & Mineka ,2013). Nonetheless, this disorder also can be linked to factors associated with culture, society and genetics, as it overlaps with mental illness.

Steven Bratman in 1997 the term orthorexia nervosa describes individuals who have an unhealthy relationship with food characterized by “a restrictive diet, ritualized patterns of eating, and rigid avoidance of foods believed to be unhealthy or impure” (Nancy S Koven, Alexandra W. Abry). This manifests through a restrictive diet, a focus on food preparation, ritualized patterns of eating, and obsessive thoughts about food as well as spending extra time researching, cataloging, or discussing food, dieting, and other food related topics. Outside of meals and preparation, individuals suffering from this disorder may also develop an obsession with exercise in a further pursuit of