Research Proposal : Anorexia Nervosa

Because Miranda engages in frequent bingeing and purging and she has an extremely low body weight for her age, a clinician would diagnose her with anorexia nervosa subtype bingeing and purging.

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

According to NEDA anorexia is the “intense fear of weight gain,” which leads to starving oneself to the point of malnutrition ("Types & Symptoms of Eating Disorders”). Bulimia is when a person continually consumes large amounts of food, followed by purging or excessive working out to eliminate the chance of weight gain. Binge eating is similar to bulimia, both consume large amounts, but binge eaters do this and then eat nothing for a while. Their eating patterns go from enormous amounts of food to nothing and back again (“Types & Symptoms of Eating Disorders”). Public awareness about all these eating disorders has been spread, some doctors preach eating right and working out, but few people listen to or act on the doctors words. Eating disorders have become a major problem in American and we need a solution soon.

The study conducted had a sample size of 90 Polish women with AN and the control group was 120 females without any signs of an eating disorder. These females were studied to identify any substantial differences in behavior. The result of the study was that females with AN exhibited less control over cognitive function and emotional behavior. The conclusion reached was that being able to identify the symptoms typical of an eating disorder in females could help in improving treatments and could also prevent any dangerous habits developed by those with

Anorexia statistics show that the disease mostly affects young women. “Between 10 and 20 percent of people with anorexia die from heart attacks, other complications and suicide; the disease has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness"( Brown, H. (2010).Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia. New York, NY: Haper Collins Publishers).Only about 10% of all sufferers are male.Statistics on anorexia show that between 1 – 5% of all female adolescents and young women suffer from anorexia. The average age of onset is 17. It is rare, but not unheard of, for children under the age of 10 to have the condition. An older woman can have it as well, although it is usually diagnosed in the teens or twenties.

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that affects the psyche by making the afflicted starve themselves because they are afraid of weight gain and have a false view of self image. Anorexics abuse the uses of exercise, laxatives, diuretics, drugs, and enemas to lose more weight. Anorexia is commonly adapted in teenagers but can start as early as age seven and as late as the forties. One percent of Americans suffer from anorexia nervosa and women are more affect than men are. "Individuals with anorexia are on an irrational, unrelenting quest to lose weight, and no matter how much they lose and how much their health is compromised, they want to lose more weight (Tish Davidson, Anorexia Nervosa)." The health factors for being anorexic is long

Anorexia has biological and psychological causes that contribute to the disorder. Anorexia is not simple it is complex and can develop multiple factors. Examples of psychological causes: family and childhood traumas, peer pressure amongst people, some professions and careers that promote weight loss, and media. Examples of biological causes: irregular hormone functions, genetics, and nutritional deficiencies.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, death from starvation, or medical complications, heart attacks or kidney failure, affects 1 out of every 10 cases of Anorexia. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is most common in young adolescents girls . People diagnosed with this disorder have a distorted view of themselves and a fear of gaining weight. They often restrict how much food they eat in order to stop gaining weight or continue to loose weight. Anorexia is a serious disease that has many symptoms that should be watched out for, treated, and studied to better understand and become aware of the disorder (n.d).

Several databases and journal articles have been included in this literature search. Credits for the access to these databases are for the Medical Library of the National Guard Health Services. This Paper emphasize its contents about the prevalence of Anorexia Nervosa among females in general worldwide. So these are the the four terms used in the search: Anorexia Nervosa, prevalence, young adult females, eating disorders. This brief literature search gives the information summary of these databases and journal articles.

Having an eating disorder during adolescence can result in negative impacts on the development throughout the lifespan. Eating disorders are complex illnesses that are increasing in adolescents and are being ranked as the third most common chronic illness in adolescents (Golden & Katzman & Kreipe & Stevens & Sawer & Rees & Nicholls & Rome, 2003). Such disorders include both anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Both disorders can be indentified and diagnosed differently with signs and symptoms. With diagnosis, many adolescents lack physical self-awareness, motivation, and feelings of depression due to their stage of cognitive development (Golden & Katzman & Kreipe & Stevens & Sawe r& Rees & Nicholl s& Rome, 2003). However, the causes of these disorders can be categorized into two factors, the external factors such as

AN (Anorexia Nervosa) is the most visible eating disorder, is a serious psychiatric illness characterized by an inability to maintain a normal healthy body weight or, in individuals who are still growing, despite increasing weight loss and frank emancipation, individuals with AN strive for additional weight loss, see themselves as fat even when they are severely underweight, and often engaged in unhealthy weight loss behaviors (e.g. purging, dieting, excessive exercise, and fasting). (Bulk, Trace, Kleiman and Mazzeo, 2014). AN not only has harmful physical side effects but has psychological impacts as well. According to Serpell, Treasure, Teasdale and Sullivan (1998), one of the most interesting features of anorexia nervosa which sets it apart from many other conditions is highly valued in nature of anorexic symptoms.

until there is nothing left of them. Although, this may disguise itself as a physical

Anorexia is more than twice as common in female girls (Morris & Twaddle,2007). Anorexia Nervosa affects every one out of a 100 high school and college girls in the United States (Silverman,2005). Eighty to 90 percent of anorexia patients are females (Morris & Twaddle,2007). Teenage years are the worst for girls because between the ages of 12 to 18 as many as one in 250 girls may develop anorexia (Romeo,1984). Anorexia is most likely to develop when a girl is in middle school (Romeo,1984). What most girls do not know at this time is that their body is going through a growing stage during their teenage years and they need to be gaining weight not losing it. Magazines, advertising, and social media give girls an ideal body type and this causes eating disorders

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders 5th edition defines anorexia nervosa as an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss; it is a serious and potentially life-threatening disorder. According to the DSM 5, the typical diagnostic symptoms of anorexia nervosa are: dramatic weight loss leading to significant low body weight for the individuals age, sex, and health; preoccupation with weight; restriction of food, calories and fat; constant dieting; feeling “fat” or overweight despite weight loss and fear about gaining weight or being “fat.” Many individuals with anorexia nervosa deny feeling hungry and often avoid eating meals with others, resulting in withdrawal from usual friends and activities

This paper is a critical analysis of how research into pro-anorexia websites effects is insufficient for determining their influence on body dissatisfaction, dieting and anorexia nervosa (AN) disorder. These unorthodox services have received outrage in recent New Zealand (NZ) news coverage because they are seen to advocate engagement in eating disorder behaviour, and disengagement from professional treatment (Hawkes, 2017).