Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, with more than 10% of those that suffer from it will die. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is categorized by severe food restriction, excessive exercise and body dysmorphia, which leads those that suffer from it to believe that they are overweight. Anorexia nervosa is commonly misunderstood by the general public. Research has disproved many of the previous thoughts about anorexia nervosa. According to the scientific research anorexia nervosa has a genetic factor, is not just a disorder of teenage girls, and that recovery is not simply gaining weight. Movies, television shows and magazines portray rail thin woman as the ideal image of beauty. And the demographic that is viewed as the most impressible is that of pre-teen and teenage girls. This appears to be how popular thought has connected these two things, in order to blame popular culture for anorexia nervosa. However what is not commonly known is that anorexia nervosa far predates the current view of female beauty. Anorexia nervosa symptoms were first described by Sir Richard Morton in 1689 (Kaplan). Then in 1874, a physician named William Gull named the disorder anorexia nervosa (Till). While doctors and researchers agree that society can influence those that suffer from the disorder it is not the reason for the disorder. In pursuit of more effective treatment and prevention in anorexia nervosa, researchers have been looking into genetic risk factors for anorexia nervosa. The researchers have used twin studies to learn more about the possible genetic link. The largest twin study on the disorder has shown that the disorder is heritable and that there are warning signs decades before the ... ... middle of paper ... ...1 Mar. 2014. Lock, James. "Eating disorders in children and adolescents." Psychiatric Times Oct. 2009: 35. Psychology Collection. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. B., Lowe, Buchholz C., and Zipfel S. "One half of patients with anorexia nervosa fully recovered after 21 years but the other half had a chronic or lethal course. (Prognosis)." Evidence-Based Mental Health May 2002: 59. Psychology Collection. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Johnson, Kate. "Twin study shows anorexia has a genetic component." Clinical Psychiatry News May 2006: 71. Psychology Collection. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Kaplan, Arline. "Why girls starve themselves: new research in anorexia nervosa." Psychiatric Times Jan. 2008: 1. Psychology Collection. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Till, Chris. "The quantification of gender: anorexia nervosa and femininity." Health Sociology Review 20.4 (2011): 399+. Psychology Collection. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
To begin, Rys proposes that one of the main psychological factors of anorexia is the unknown identity of oneself and the ideal image of a woman. In this present day, media is everywhere. Women are constantly trying to change themselves to become the image that the population as a whole...
The National Institute of Mental Health: Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions. Pub No. 01-4901. Accessed Feb. 2002.
Yager, J. (1982). Family issues in the pathogenesis of anorexia nervosa. Psychosomatic Medicine. 44, 43-59.
"Anorexia Nervosa--Part I." Harvard Mental Health Letter. Feb. 2003: 1-4. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
In light of what is going on in the world today, eating disorders seem farfetched and frivolous. Anorexia Nervosa could be considered a classic example of a serious eating disorder as it is defined as having a fatal a...
Eating Disorders." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Anorexia nervosa is a life threatening eating disorder defined by a refusal to maintain fifteen percent of a normal body weight through self-starvation (NAMI 1). Ninety-five percent of anorexics are women between the ages of twelve and eighteen, however, “…in the past twenty years, this disorder has become a growing threat to high school and college students”(Maloney and Kranz 60). Anorexia produces a multitude of symptoms, and if not treated, anorexia can lead to permanent physical damage or death.
As the "ideal" women’s body has become progressively thinner over the past decades, the eating disorder anorexia has become progressively more prevalent. Anorexia is a disease in which a person eats nothing beyond minimal amounts of food so that her body weight drops dangerously. It is no wonder with all of the cultural messages of thinness being aimed at women, that 90-95% of anorexics are female, 25.7% of all female ballet dancers are anorexic, and that the percentages are similarly high for female models and athletes (Malson, 1998). Six to eight percent of young women have been diagnosed. For some the disease takes a devastating and irreversible course; 20% of anorexic patients will die and as many as half of those will be from suicide (Sullivan, 1995). It is an extremely painful disease with many emotional hardships for all involved. Anorexia, like many psychological disorders in the DSM-IV, has medical, biological, personality, and social components and implications.
Genetics, biochemistry and biological factors have a significant contribution to anorexia. Although scientists are still researching possible biological causes of anorexia. Some individuals who have suffered from this eating disorder have unbalanced chemicals in the brain which control hunger, digestion and appetite. People with anorexia also have abnormal le...
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by severe restriction of food, an intense fear of gaining weight, a distorted body image and a body mass index of less than 18.5 (Kring, Johnson, Davison, Neale, 2013). There are two subtypes of anorexia, Restricting and Binge Eating/Purging. An individual who falls under the Restricting subtype severely restricts food intake, while an individual who falls under the Bing Eating/Purging subtype regularly engages in binge eating and purging. Anorexia typically begins in adolescence and primarily affects women. The disorder is more common in women than in men mainly because of the cultural emphasis that is placed on women’s beauty. Individuals with anorexia generally have a low self-esteem, a very critical self-evaluation and a belief that they can never be too thin. Due to the seriousness of the disorder, the issue of whether or not an individual should have the right the refuse life-sustaining treatment is highly debated.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an disorder that has been most commonly diagnosed in adolescence with the highest at-risk group being women between ages 15 and 22 years old (Hodes, et al., 2000). In the United States, the occurrence of anorexia nervosa is estimated between 0.5% and 2% of the general population, and 0.8 million of the juvenile population (Fisherman, 2006). AN is an illness that has been around for quite some time but has recently become progressively more relevant in society today. This increase could be due to social factors such as the pressure to fit into society’s ideal body image, environmental, psychological, or other social factors may be contributing to the more rapidly development of AN. The exact causes of this disorder are unknown but anorexia has become the third most common chronic illness among adolescents and currently the incidents of AN are increasing in western countries (ANAD, 2014).
ANAD. “Eating Disorders Statistics”. National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders, Inc., 2013.Web. 18 Nov 2013.
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).?
When considering the relationship between gender and eating disorders, more than 90 percent of t...
Cottrell, Randall R. "Anorexia Nervosa." Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia: Weight Control. Ed. Robert E. Kline. Vol. 15. Guilford, CT: Duskin, 1992. 117.