Anorexia Nervosa is a Life-threatening Disease

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Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder in which a person loses more weight than what is considered healthy for their weight and age. Individuals with anorexia may have an intense fear of gaining weight even if they are underweight. They may exercise or diet too much or use another way to lose weight. Often the individuals obsess over their weight and the food they consume. It is construed by the inability to keeps one’s body weight within 15 percent of their ideal body weight. There are two types of anorexia nervosa: restricting type and binge-eating and purging type. They regularly deny how serious the disorder is. Anorexia is a serious and potentially life threatening mental illness.
Anorexia Nervosa is a big part of adolescence life. In society today there are many social standards that promote a thin body. Adolescents tend to look up to the super thin models that are plastered all over billboards and on television and in magazines. When in reality the models are unhealthy and malnourished. Adolescents strive to be just like them, and in the end are hurting or even killing themselves. Media also plays a big role in anorexia. Many adolescents see celebrities as having the perfect body. All adolescents hear about is how everyone is losing weight and how much better they look. Approximately ninety percent of individuals diagnosed with anorexia are women between 12 and 25. Most of them have low self esteem even though they tend to be high achievers in school. No matter how thin they are they still see themselves as fat. The pressure to make themselves fit in with the rest of society and among other things lead to anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders.
The cause of anorexia is unknown but many factors may play a role. A per...

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Works Cited

Wint, Carmella, and Winnie Yu. "Anorexia Nervosa." : Overview, Causes & Symptoms. 25 July 2012.
25 Mar. 2014 .

Cushing, Tracy A. "Emergent Management of Anorexia Nervosa ." Emergent Management of Anorexia Nervosa. 12 July 2013. 25 Mar. 2014 .

Duckworth, Ken, and Jacob L. Freedman. "NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness."NAMI. Jan. 2013. 24 Mar. 2014 .

Rogge, Timothy. "Anorexia nervosa: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. 26 Feb. 2013. U.S. National Library of Medicine. 25 Mar. 2014 .

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