Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Causes of anorexia nervosa
Interventions for anorexia nervosa
Causes of anorexia nervosa
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Causes of anorexia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of the relatively consistent behavior of binging, eating more than you would in a typical meal, and using an inappropriate method to get rid of the extra calories consumed, such as self-induced vomiting, taking excessive amounts of laxatives or fasting. Another key symptom includes one’s self-esteem being overly impacted by body image and weight (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). Binging and purging episodes, accompanied by a feeling of loss of control, must occur at least once a week for 3 months, in order to be clinically diagnosed (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Once diagnosed, treatment begins, usually a combination of therapy and antidepressants. This combination seems to be successful, as most diagnosed with bulimia nervosa do recover . If one has a family history dealing with eating disorders or personally are diagnosed with a mental illness already, the risk to be diagnosed increases (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). Social pressure, as well as traumatic events can also contribute (Duckworth & Freedman, 2013). Although researchers are still trying to find answers on what the exact cause of this disorder is, they have recently discovered that having bulimia nervosa while pregnant is correlated with postnatal depression, miscarriage and preterm delivery (Morgan, Lacey, & Chung, 2006). Bulimia Nervosa Binging can be defined as eating excessive amounts of food, more than one would in a typical meal. Compensatory behavior is when one engaging in self-induced vomiting, misusing laxatives, enemas or diuretics (purging) or fasting or excessively exercising (non-purging) to rid extra calories consumed (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). It seems as if these two behaviors combined, a ps... ... middle of paper ... ...ormant at the time of pregnancy. The women were interviewed in order to find out what, if any, complications arose. After examination, it was concluded that “active bulimia during pregnancy is associated with postnatal depression, miscarriage and preterm delivery.” Seeing that having active bulimia nervosa during pregnancy could reduce the chance of having a healthy baby is a beneficial discovery because it can be treated (Morgan, Lacey, & Chung, 2006). In this day in age, it is just the beginning for researchers to uncover more and more about bulimia nervosa. Whether it be finding the exact cause of this disorder, new symptoms that are showing, changes in the criteria for diagnosis, hopefully a better prognosis, advances in treatment options and continued research to be as proactive as possible, the doors to bulimia nervosa are wide open and ready to be explored.
Recurrent episodes of binge eating is classified by eating large amounts of food in a discrete amount of time and a lack of control in over-consuming during an episode (Pomerantz, 2014). One then uses recurrent inappropriate purging behavior to prevent weight gain. DSM-5 has updated this occurrence to only once a week for three months. Those with the disorder cause self-evaluation to be strongly influenced by body shape and weight. These disturbances do not occur during episodes of anorexia nervosa, which is self starvation to limit calories and weight (American Psychiatric Association,
Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B., Swanson, S.A., Raymond, N.C., Specker, S., Eckert, E.D., Mitchell, J.E. (2009) Increased mortality in bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 1342-1346.
Eating disorders can be viewed as multi-determined disorders because there are many different factors that can play into a person developing an eating disorder. Each case is different and to get a clear picture of the disorder it must be looked at from numerous angles because often times it is a combination of different issues that contribute to someone developing an eating disorder.
There is now compelling evidence from double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that antidepressant medication is useful in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. What is less clear is which patients are most likely to benefit from antidepressant medications and how to best sequence the various therapeutic interventions available. The utility of antidepressant medications in bulimia nervosa has led to their evaluation in binge eating disorder. The limited information currently available suggests that antidepressant treatment may be associated with a reduction in binge frequency in obese patients with binge eating disorder, but does not lead to weight reduction.
As many as 20% of females in their teenage and young adult years suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa (Alexander-Mott, 4). Males are also afflicted by these eating disorders, but at a much lower rate, with a female to male ratio of six to one. Those with anorexia nervosa refuse to maintain a normal body weight by not eating and have an intense fear of gaining weight. People with bulimia nervosa go through periods of binge eating and then purging (vomiting), or sometimes not purging but instead refraining from eating at all for days. Both of these disorders wreak havoc on a person's body and mental state, forcing them to become emaciated and often depressed.
Bulimia Nervous, as defined by the National Eating Disorders Association, is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting. It affects 1 - 2 percent of the adolescents and young adults. About 80 percent of the people it affects are female. Many people struggling with Bulimia Nervous also struggle with depression and social phobias. The disorder is often shortened from Bulimia Nervosa to just Bulimia. Many people do not understand the severity of the Eating Disorder (ED) at hand. Many people will brush it off as if the sufferer is just wanting attention. What many people do not understand is that, the sufferer has a warped body image and they are suffering mentally and physically with this disorder. Having Bulimia, you binge, and eat your desired food, then you realize the mass of intake and you purge, either through vomiting, exercise, or laxatives. This vicious cycle is a sensation and becomes very addictive which leads the person to the severe disorder of Bulimia Ne...
The motivation that has the bulimia population striving for is none other than for the reason of staying thin. Since the 1980s, this has been an increasing dilemma for both the U.S and Europe. There is no direct cause for this mental disorder but rather a combination of factors that increase...
Mitchell, James E., et al. "A Retrospective Study of Pregnancy in Bulimia Nervosa." International Journal of Eating Disorders. 1991
Bulimia nervosa is when a person binge eats and following that binge they will make drastic efforts to avoid the weight gain. For a person with bulimia, this is a constant cycle and causes a strain emotionally. An average binge is consuming 3000 to 5000 calories in an hour. Once the binge is finished someone may choose to take a 9 mile run, take a laxative or vomiting to get all of those calories out of the body to prevent weight gain. Most common in women
Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by a strong desire to lose, or not to gain weight through starvation. This can be caused by the victim’s distorted view of their own body image. The two generalized types are: strict diet and exercise, and binging and purging (Martini, Nath, Bartholomew, 2012). Bulimia nervosa is categorized by episodic binge eating that is followed by guilt, depression, and self-condemnation (Martini, Nath, Bartholomew, 2012). These emotions noted are usually followed by attempts to lose weight by way of self-induced vomiting, laxatives, dieting, and or fasting. Excessive eating followed by periods of fasting or self-induced vomiting are characteristics of binge-purge...
Bulimia nervosa is a slightly less serious version of anorexia, but can lead to some of the same horrible results. Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight (which is generally inaccurate) combined with frequent cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, unwarranted use of laxatives, or excessive exercising. Most bulimics are of normal body weight, but they are preoccupied with their weight, feel extreme shame about their abnormal behavior, and often experience significant depression. The occurrence of bulimia has increased in many Western countries over the past few decades. Numbers are difficult to establish due to the shame of reporting incidences to health care providers (Bee and Boyd, 2001).
Bulimia is marked by significant cycles in eating habits. Bulimics will often starve themselves (calorie/food/fat intake restriction -- sometimes with the help of diet pills or supplements) for extended periods of time prior to a massive binge, during which they consume abnormal amounts of food in a short period of time. These binges are followed by purging, which generally is constituted by self-induced vomiting. Other methods of purging the body include the use of diuretics, laxatives, and excessive exercising. Bulimics are generally within what is considered to be a "normal" weight range, but see themselves as being overly fat, or suffer from an intense fear of gaining weight. They often do realize that they have a problem, but by that point the cycle has become an obsession. Bulimics usually weigh themselves frequently, even several times daily.
Both bulimics and anorexics are motivated by a desire to lessen weight. Anorexia is explained in Eating Disorders as: “Anorexia nervosa is a condition in which a person starves him or herself. The key feature of this disorder is the refusal to eat enough food, resulting in a body weight that is far below a healthy level” (Keel and Levitt, 3). While bulimia is explained as: “Bulimia is characterized by episodes of binge eating in which an individual feels a loss of control over food consumption and eats very large amounts of food in single sittings” (Keel and Levitt, 7). From this, it is obvious that patients of both disease resort to measures of losing weight.
Eating disorders are a serious health problem. Personal Counseling & Resources says that eating disorders "are characterized by a focus on body shape, weight, fat, food, and perfectionism and by feelings of powerlessness and low self-esteem." Three of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating or compulsive eating disorder. According to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, a person with anorexia "refuses to maintain normal body weight for age and height" and "weighs 85 percent or less than what is what is expected for age and height." A person diagnosed with bulimia has several ways of getting rid of the calories such as binge eating, vomiting, laxative misuse, exercising, or fasting. The person might have a normal weight for their age and height unless anorexia is present. The signs of a compulsive eater include eating meals frequently, rapidly, and secretly. This person might also snack and nibble all day long. The compulsive eater tends to have a history of diet failures and may be depressed or obese (Anred.com).
bulimia nervosa and women. While perfectionism and abuse have been risk factors in the models of bulimia, body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem seem to contribute more to bulimic behavior.