Anorexia Nervosa

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Anorexia Nervosa Models are pretty and thin and are often taken as role models of success. However they must be underweight to look "perfect" on television and magazines. In order to be thin, they develop a disease called anorexia nervosa. Although anorexia and bulimia are related to eating disorders, anorexia nervosa has more background than bulimia. This essay states what anorexia nervosa is and for how long the disease has been around in society. There is more tan one definition of anorexia nervosa; however, all describe the same problem. Here are some of the definitions: Anorexia nervosa is an eating problem that occurs when a person is unrealistically concerned about being overweight and therefore eat as little as possible. This condition is both a physical illness and a psychiatric illness. Hormone changes result from the low weight and low levels of body fat. In young women menstruation stops. Anorexia nervosa can be very severe illness, including a risk of death from starvation (Encarta Encyclopedia, Internet). Anorexia nervosa is a disorder in which preoccupation with dieting and thinness leads to excessive weight loss. The individual may not acknowledge that weight loss or restricted eating is a problem (www.anorexia.com, Internet). The American Anorexia Nervosa Association defines anorexia as a "serious illness of deliberate self-starvation with profound psychiatric and physical components." Now that we know what anorexia means, lets narrate how this disease came to be noticeable. We have the knowledge that anorexia nervosa is affecting a greater number of individuals. Although it was discovered not so long ago, anorexia nerv... ... middle of paper ... ...e to recognize signs of nutritional need, and 3. A paralyzing sense of ineffectiveness pervading all thinking and activities. This three disturbances describe mostly how anorexia comes to be and in which individuals develops. We can figure out that anorexia has been here for hundreds of years, occurring in those that did not seem to be satisfied with their appearances. It has passed by but not unnoticeable by society. Although this disease was developed in the mind, we know that is serious and treatment and patience is needed for the individual. Bibliography: Byrne, Katherine. A Parent's Guide to Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia. 1987 Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. Fasting Girls. 1988 Hoffman, Lee, "Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa." Self-Help & Psychology Magazine. 1993 Neuman, Patricia A. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia. 1983

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First, let’s take a look at the meaning of bulimia nervosa. According to Psychology Today, bulimia nervosa is characterized by
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Anorexia Nervosa may be described directly as an eating disease classified by a deficit in weight, not being able to maintain weight appropriate for one’s height. Anorexia means loss of appetite while Anorexia Nervosa means a lack of appetite from nervous causes. Before the 1970s, most people never heard of Anorexia Nervosa. It was identified and named in the 1870s, before then people lived with this mental illness, not knowing what it was, or that they were even sick. It is a mental disorder, which distorts an individual’s perception of how they look. Looking in the mirror, they may see someone overweight
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“Fighting Anorexia” and “cookie monster” are two different articles based on research by some group of psychiatrists that focuses on eating disorder, which in psychology is referred to as a mental illness. Anorexia nervosa is a mental condition that describes a person’s obsession with food and the acute anxiety over weight gain (Newsweek cover, 2005). This disorder is categorized by an individual’s phobia on what to eat and what not to eat; as a result, the person begins to starve his or her self just to avoid adding more weight. The article published on the “Cookie Monster” expatiate on a research that describes how food is being used by some individuals to change their mood (McCarthy, 2001). This research shows that individuals especially college students try to subdue their emotions through the use of sweets and cookies. To further understand of these two experimental research in both articles, some important questions will be answered below.
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1876 Words | 4 Pages
Out of all mental illnesses found throughout the world, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate. Anorexia nervosa is one of the more common eating disorders found in society, along with bulimia nervosa. Despite having many definitions, anorexia nervosa is simply defined as the refusal to maintain a normal body weight (Michel, 2003). Anorexia nervosa is derived from two Latin words meaning “nervous inability to eat” (Frey, 2002). Although anorexics, those suffering from anorexia, have this “nervous inability to eat,” it does not mean that they do not have an appetite—anorexics literally starve themselves. They feel that they cannot trust or believe their perceptions of hunger and satiation (Abraham, 2008). Anorexics lose at least 15 percent of normal weight for height (Michel, 2003). This amount of weight loss is significant enough to cause malnutrition with impairment of normal bodily functions and rational thinking (Lucas, 2004). Anorexics have an unrealistic view of their bodies—they believe that they are overweight, even if the mirror and friends or family say otherwise. They often weigh themselves because they possess an irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming obese (Abraham, 2008). Many anorexics derive their own self-esteem and self-worth from body weight, size, and shape (“Body Image and Disordered Eating,” 2000). Obsession with becoming increasingly thinner and limiting food intake compromises the health of individuals suffering from anorexia. No matter the amount of weight they lose or how much their health is in jeopardy, anorexics will never be satisfied with their body and will continue to lose more weight.
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As defined by the National Eating Disorders Association, “Anorexia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” (NEDA). The term “Anorexia Nervosa” literally means “neurotic loss of appetite”, and could be more generally defined as the result of a prolonged self-starvation and an unhealthy relationship regarding food and self-image. It is characterized by “resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height”, “intense fear of weight gain or being “fat”, even though underweight”, “disturbance in the experience of body weight or shape, undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of low body weight”, and “loss of menstrual periods in girls and women post-puberty.”(NEDA) Among women on a range of 15 to 24 years old, AN has been proved to have 12 times the annual mortality rate of all death causes, and from premature deaths of anorexic patients, 1 in every 5 is caused by suicide, which gives a rise of 20% for suicide probability. (EDV)
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958 Words | 2 Pages
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1116 Words | 3 Pages
There is argument about whether or not Anorexia can be incited by environmental factors and whether the occurrence of Anorexia is increasing at all. The article “Not Our Stars But Ourselves” stated, “Some of these causes may overlap with one another, but biomedical researchers are virtually unanimous that Anorexia has physical roots” (Schwarz). The article also question whether growing a...
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According to Laura Shapiro, a notable researcher on eating disorders, the medical condition of anorexia consists of several elements. By definition, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, and a feeling of loss of control (Shapiro 69).
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901 Words | 2 Pages
Anorexic: this word is an adjective, a label, and to some, a lifestyle. Medically speaking, it is someone who suffers from the deadly and heartbreaking disease, Anorexia Nervosa. This term translates to “nervous loss of appetite”, but anyone who has battled through this sickness is aware how that is anything but true. Eating disorder patients do not, in fact, lose their appetite; there is more to it than that. Many perceive eating disorders as a choice to be thin, a diet, or a cry for attention; they do not see the mental destruction going on inside of the mind. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, yet only 30% of people fully recover (ANAD). The general mindset that society has about eating disorders walks hand in hand with these statistics, slowing down any advances patients may be able to make. Eating disorder patients are not getting proper treatment because of ignorant misconceptions about the illness.
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1663 Words | 4 Pages
In 1978, Brunch called anorexia nervosa a 'new disease' and noted that the condition seemed to overtake ?the daughters of the well-to-do, educated and successful families.? Today it is acknowledged and accepted that anorexia affects more than just one gender or socio-economic class; however, much of the current research is focused on the female gender. ?Anorexia nervosa is characterized by extreme dieting, intense fear of gaining weight, and obsessive exercising. The weight loss eventually produces a variety of physical symptoms associated with starvation: sleep disturbance, cessation of menstruation, insensitivity to pain, loss of hair on the head, low blood pressure, a variety of cardiovascular problems and reduced body temperature. Between 10% and 15% of anorexics literally starve themselves to death; others die because of some type of cardiovascular dysfunction (Bee and Boyd, 2001).?
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The "Anorexia Nervosa" BMJ: British Medical Journal 334.7599 (2007): 894-98. Print. The. Hay, Phillipa J., and Josue Bacaltchuk. The "Bulimia Nervosa" BMJ: British Medical Journal, 323 (2001). Print.
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Anorexia Nervosa
1077 Words | 3 Pages
Anorexia may not be noticed in early stages. The Anorexic usually chooses to wear layered and baggy clothes to hide the “ugly fat body” .An Anorexic may have ritualistic eating patterns such as cutting food into little tiny pieces and weighing themselves. These can be found in people who are on a healthy diet, but in Anorexics these behaviors are extremely exaggerated. Other warnings are deliberate self-starvation with weight loss, fear of gaining weight, refusal to eat, denial of hunger, constant exercising, sensitivity to cold, absent or irregular periods, loss of scalp perception of being fat when the person is really to this. Some other associated features are depressed mood, somatic sexual dysfunction, and ...
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Anorexia Nervosa

Case Study: Getting To Know Bulimia Nervosa