Anorexia Nervosa and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder often found in young adolescent women, that has been characterized by a distorted attitude towards weight and body image, a set of behaviors calculated to produce weight loss and other physiological and psychological symptoms. Physiological symptoms include (according to the DSM III- R criteria) starvation, amenorrhoea, and a refusal to maintain weight above 85% of their ideal weight. Psychological symptoms include an obsessive pursuit of thinness, along with obvious body preoccupation, and an incessant rumination about food. In addition, they are also engaged in compulsive calorie counting and excessive physical exercise. The personality of the anorexic is characterized as stereotypically rigid, ritualistic, perfectionistic and meticulous. This ritualism takes its form in eating patterns. For example an anorexic may cut her food into tiny pieces and weigh every piece of food before she eats it. These behaviors can be found in people who are on a normal, healthy diet, but in anorexics these behaviors are extremely exaggerated, in part because the act of dieting has become exaggerated. Anorexics also commonly have obsessions and compulsions related to symmetry and order.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), one of the anxiety disorders, is a potentially disabling condition that can persist throughout a person's life. Those who suffer from OCD become trapped in a pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors that are senseless and distressing. Some of the main components of OCD are obsessions, compulsions and insight into behavior. Obsessions are unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly well up in the mind of the person...
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According to Fowler, Crosby, Parks, and Ivey (2013), suicide and nonfatal suicidal ideations are significant public health concerns for adolescents and young adults. While the onset of suicidal behaviors is observed as young as six years of age, rates of death and nonfatal injury resulting from suicidal behavior are moderately low until 15 years of age (Fowler et al., 2013). According to Fowler et al (2013), the most current available statistics in the United States (U. S.) reported suicide as the third leading cause of death among youth aged 10-14 and 15-19 years, and it was the second leading cause of death among persons aged 20-24 years.
Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, have been hypothesized to have a relationship with obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, there remains a great amount of evidence in favor that anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder share more similarities than bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. The implications of integrating eating disorders with obsessive-compulsive disorder to create a "family" of disorders called obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder will be discussed. There remain some differences between eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders which further explore the correlation. Furthermore, review papers and primary research papers support that a correlation exists between eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders, and the research acknowledges the differences between the two disorders. However, two primary research papers do not believe that there exists a correlation between the two disorders. In all, the implications of the relationship between the two diseases, the treatment of the two diseases, and suggestions for further and diverse research will be explored
"Anorexia Nervosa--Part I." Harvard Mental Health Letter. Feb. 2003: 1-4. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
The DSM-IV outlines four criteria for anorexia nervosa (APA, 1994). One, a refusal to maintain body weight over a minimal normal weight for age and height (i.e., weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected). Two, an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. Three, a disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight, size, or shape is experienced (i.e., denial of the seriousness of current low body weight, or undue influence of body shape and weight on self-evaluation). Four, in post-menarcheal, amenorrhea (the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles). Two types of anorexia nervosa are defined. The binge eating/purging subtype means that the individual engages in recurrent ep...
A mother finds her 17 year old teenage son hanging from the rafters of their basement. To hear of this occurrence is not rare in society today. Every 90 minutes a teenager in this country commits suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. The National suicide rate has increased 78% between 1952 and 1992. The rate for 15-19 year olds rose from two per 100,000 to 12.9, more than 600 percent. (Special report, Killing the Pain, Rae Coulli)
What could possibly be wrong about a mother nourishing her child? Absolutely nothing. Many people view a woman's breasts as sexual items. The main purpose of breasts Is to breastfeed a child after birth. I came across The Milk Truck while back. The Milk Truck is there “to create a mobile breastfeeding unit that allows mothers to feed their babies in places where they have been discouraged - restaurants, shopping malls, public spaces, etc. Babies should be able to eat anywhere, and everywhere". I am absolutely for breastfeeding in public.
...n the rise. Spanning through history and a plethora of different cultures breastfeeding has always been a respectable and beneficial way to feed a child. The choice is up to one’s own personal beliefs in today’s times
In recent years the government and health organisation are coming together to try promote breastfeeding after the significant decline seen in the last quarter of a century. Since March 2007 a mother is entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave. On return to work, if the mother continues to breast feed her infant, the law states that an employee who is breastfeeding is entitled to one hour each day off work, as a paid breast feeding break. This is a great scheme to promote breast feeding however, much more needs to be done, to once again make it a social norm to breast feed your baby.
Suicide in adolescents is the third-leading cause of death in the United States between the ages of 10 though 19 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, 292). More adolescents who think even about attempting suicide are mostly the ones who are unsuccessful at it. Females for example, are more likely than males to attempt to commit suicide by either over dosing on sleeping pills or self harming. Most adolescents’ girls will not succeed in actually committing suicide. Males on the other hand, use more drastic ways of committing suicide, adolescent boys usually with a firearm rather than another meth...
Personality disorders are a group of mental conditions that are characterized by maladaptive patterns of behavior. An individual with a personality disorder will have an unhealthy and rigid pattern of functioning, thinking, and behaving. In addition, he/she has a difficulty perceiving and relating to people and situations. Because of all these, these individuals encounter problems and limitations in dealing with personal issues, relationships, school and even work. Personality disorders are prevalent in teenage years all the way through early adulthood.
...harm has sky rocketed and needs to be addressed immediately. In addition, as I covered towards the beginning of the core assessment, the important variables and culprits on suicide and self-harm include psychological, family, and social problems in society. In my personal opinion, the media outlets need to contain on what they report in reference to teenager suicide. With all the solutions and treatment plans I mentioned in this assessment, there is very minimal evidence of the effectiveness. The major challenges I foresee in the future for this ongoing problem include the understanding and comprehension of adolescent suicide in addition to the contributors. Identifying preventative measures aimed at young teens considered a high risk and the effective treatment options are challenges that are difficult, yet; very attainable with a collective effort from everyone.
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.
For example, nearly all patients with BDD perform at least one type of compulsive behavior that resemble OCD compulsions. Phillips and Kaye (2007) postulates that these resemble OCD compulsion because the behaviors are performed intentionally in response to an obsession, the intent is to reduce anxiety or distress and prevent an unwanted event, most behaviors are repetitive, time consuming, and excessive, the behaviors may be rule bound or done in a specific order, and the completion of the compulsion is not pleasurable to the individual. While OCD and BDD compulsions do differ in their specific focuses, with BDD compulsions being body image oriented, the presence of the obsessions and compulsions still lends support to a relationship between the two. For individuals with eating disorders, in particular anorexia nervosa, the symptoms often also include obsession and compulsions that are body image related and often pertain to symmetry and exactness. There is a difference between the obsessions and compulsions in individuals with anorexia nervosa and OCD-driven compulsions just as there is between OCD and BDD. The obsessions and compulsions of anorexia nervosa are largely ego-syntonic, or aligned with the individuals ideal self-image, and are not necessarily deemed as unwanted
Since 1969, a number of operational criteria for anorexia nervosa that emphasize signs and symptoms have been developed. The first such criteria were proposed by Gerald Russell in 1970. Russell emphasised a behavioural disturbance, which he stated leads to a marked loss of body weight, a characteristic psychopathology, which is characterised by a morbid fear of getting ‘fat’ and an endocrine disorder which manifests itself clinically by amenorrhea in females and loss of sexual potency and sexual interest in men. These criteria have evolved into the current DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria (Garfinkel). The DSM-IV criteria for anorexia nervosa looks at; an individual’s refusal to maintain their body weight at or above a normal weight for their age and height, the intense fear of gaining weight, disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self evaluation, or the denial of the severity of low body weight and finally, in postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea (Garfinkel). The objective psychopathology has been termed hysterical, a phobia of weight gain, an obsession, or even a delusion
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause for 5 to 14 year olds. Suicide accounts for twelve percent of the mortality in the adolescent and young adult group. Young males are more common than young woman suicides. These are only children who followed through with the suicide. For every successful suicide there are fifty to one hundred adolescent suicide attempts. In other words, more than five percent of all teenagers tried to commit suicide, and the number is still rising. It is scary to think that four percent of high school students have made a suicide attempt within the previous twelve months. In a small safe town like Avon, in the Avon High School where you and I practically live, you can see the faces of 22 students that have tried to commit suicide. That is enough to fill a classroom.