Differences and Similarities Between Bulimia and Anorexia

Differences and Similarities Between Bulimia and Anorexia

In this essay similarities and the differences between anorexia

nervosa and bulimia nervosa are considered. Similarities in the

explanations of the two eating disorders are discussed through

psychodynamic, behavioural, genetic and biochemical explanations.

Anorexia nervosa is a complex emotional problem characterized by an

obsession with food, weight, and thinness. Victims actually starve

themselves, eating fewer calories than their bodies need to function.

According to the current diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric

Association (DSM-IV), a woman is suffering from clinical anorexia, not

just dieting or fasting, when her weight has fallen to 15% below the

normal range and she has not menstruated for at least three months.

Sometimes the diagnosis is made because of drowsiness and lethargy

that are affecting her work. Other symptoms are dry skin, brittle

nails and hair, lanugo (fine downy hair on the limbs), constipation,

anemia, and swollen joints. The level of female hormones in the blood

of an anorectic woman falls drastically, and her sexual development

may be delayed. Her heart rate and blood pressure can become

dangerously low, and loss of potassium in the blood may cause

irregular heart rhythms. Over a 10-year period, about 5% of women

diagnosed as anorectic die, mainly from infections or cardiac failure.

Other serious long-term dangers are osteoporosis and kidney damage.

Ninety percent of all anorectics are female. Anorexia occurs most

often between the ages of 11 and 19. Anorectics are usually middle to

upper class, white and goal-oriented high-achievers

...

... middle of paper ...

... studies show that in so many ways anorexia

and bulimia are very similar but there are a few differences between

the symptoms and the causes.

REFERENCES

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· www.ce5.com/anorexia.

· www.findarticles.com

· van der Ham, T; van Strien, Din C; van Engeland, H (1994). A

four-year prospective follow-up study of 49 eating-disordered

adolescents: Differences in course of illness.

Acta-Psychiatrica-Scandinavica. Vol 90(3): 229-235.

· Andersen, Arnold E; Hay, Andy (1985). Racial and socioeconomic

influences in anorexia nervosa and bulimia. International Journal of

Eating Disorders, Vol 4(4): 479-487.

· Diaz Marsa, Marina; Carrasco, Jose Luis; Saiz, Jeronimo, (2000). A

study of temperament and personality in anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

Journal of Personality Disorders, Vol 14(4): 352-359.