The Disorder Anorexia Nervosa
In this paper, we will be describing a crucial disorder that affects many teenagers. This disorder is Anorexia Nervosa, better known as Anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by constant dieting, rapid weight loss and the feeling of being to fat during weight loss. Most anorexics are women and teenage girls, who see their self as being overweight even though they are deathly underweight.
The term ¡§Anorexia Nervosa¡¨ means loss of appetite due to nerves, but the people with anorexia do not actually lose their appetite until the late stages of their starvation. Until then they just do feel hungry but they will not eat.
There are numerous physical signs of anorexia but there are four main ones. They are:
1. Rapid loss of body fat
2. Wasting away of body fat
3. Pale dry skin
4. Irregular heart beat
An anorexic may also have dehydration and fainting may occur.
Anorexia also has many effects on the body. Anorexia may result in the shrinkage of internal organs, including the kidneys, heart, and brain. A person may also lose the ability to reproduce. As the heart muscle weakens, an irregular heart rhythm and heart failure are possible. Some other complications are:
„X Constipation and difficulty urinating
„X Muscle aches and cramps
„X Swelling of joints
„X Injuries to nerves and tendons
„X Inability to concentrate
„X Digestive problems
People afflicted by anorexia have an extreme fear of gaining weight. In addition, to drastic dieting, they may also turn to vomiting and the use of laxatives to lose weight.
Without treatment, anorexia can cause serious health problems and even lead to death. Anorexia is very dangerous, and professional help should be sought immediately. Prompt treatments will usually keep the problem from progressing, but some cases are very resistant to treatment and may require hospitalization. As many as 15 percent die from complications.
Anorexia Nervosa occurs much more frequently in females than in males. The statistics show that 90% of all anorexics are females. Most often anorexia develops during adolescence or young adulthood, although there is some evidence that it may occur at a later age.
Anorexia Nervosa placed third behind asthma and type 1 diabetes as the most chronic disease which affects young people. It is estimated that teens and young adults betwixt the ages 15 and 24 who suffer from Anorexia have 10 times the chance of dying when compared to those of similar age. Of individuals with anorexia, only .25% are males which is why most times its after death males are identified as being anorexic. About 10% individuals die from complications of the disease. That number duplicates to about 20% if combined with the patients who have anorexia and who suicide, thus making it the most life-threatening and fatal mental disease in
To be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, an individual must have a significantly low body weight due to food restriction as well as an unjustifiably acute fear weight gain. The patient must also possess a warped perception of their body, place a high value on weight or shape, or are in denial about their unhealthy condition (Comer, 2013).
Anorexia nervosa is a psychosociological disease which affects young women. Anorexia is mainly a female's disease which has been evident for centuries-however, in the past twenty years, the incidence of this disorder has risen to horrifying proportions. It is characterized by the refusal to maintain body wight over a minimal normal weight for age and height; intense fear of gaining weight; a distorted body image; and, amenorrhea. (http://www.pgi.edu/hagopian.htm) This disorder becomes a disease when the mind starts to cause problems with one's physical well-being. A connection has been found between sociocultural pressures to achieve, familial characteristics, and individual personality traits.
...uses body deterioration and psychological and emotional stress, which conclusively leads to death. Imagine walking through a fun house and seeing various distorted images of someone’s body. Most people know those images are fake. However, a person with anorexia truly believes the image they are seeing. This misconception is not discretionary nor is it a form of vanity. Anorexia is a serious mental disease that distorts a person’s view on life and happiness.
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.
As defined by the National Eating Disorders Association, “Anorexia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” (NEDA). The term “Anorexia Nervosa” literally means “neurotic loss of appetite”, and could be more generally defined as the result of a prolonged self-starvation and an unhealthy relationship regarding food and self-image. It is characterized by “resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height”, “intense fear of weight gain or being “fat”, even though underweight”, “disturbance in the experience of body weight or shape, undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of low body weight”, and “loss of menstrual periods in girls and women post-puberty.”(NEDA) Among women on a range of 15 to 24 years old, AN has been proved to have 12 times the annual mortality rate of all death causes, and from premature deaths of anorexic patients, 1 in every 5 is caused by suicide, which gives a rise of 20% for suicide probability. (EDV)
Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder that is most common in young women. Those who suffer with anorexia have a fear of gaining weight and have an inaccurate portrayal of their own bodies. They see themselves as being fat, even though they are already thin to begin with. They are willing to go to extreme measures to lose weight, but the only outcome is a severely unhealthy body weight. To achieve the weight they want they will either starve themselves or do a tremendous amount of exercise.
These conditions are commonly seen as only affecting females ranging from the middle- to upper-class, and we often imagine sufferers as extremely thin and frail. However, this is an enormous misconception. Although the most common Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) mostly affect females, an estimated 10 to 15%, or 1-2 in every 100 Anorexics and/or Bulimics are males, and Binge Eating Disorder affects both males and females equally (National Eating Disorders Association).
Anorexia has many negative effects as well. According to the University of Maryland Medical Centers article Eating Disorders, “Anorexia nervosa can increase the risk for serious health problems such as: hormonal changes including reproductive, thyroid, stress, and growth hormones, heart problems such as abnormal heart rhythm, electrolyte imbalance, fertility problems, bone density loss, anemia, and neurological problems.” Anorexia can severely affect a person internally. The continuous lack of nutrients can leave an anorexic person extremely frail. The heart in particular can grow so weak, that heart failure occurs. Eating disorders can lead too permanent health damages can stay with a person for the rest of their life.
Anorexia is a very major disorder in the United States, 95% of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. [“ANAD”] Anorexia is much more common in women than in men. When you starve yourself you are denying your body the necessary protein and nutrients that it needs to function properly. Your blood pressure levels and heart rate decrease more and more and this puts you...
Most of you probably already know what anorexia is, however in case you don't anorexia is basically a disease involving self-starvation. Anorexia victims have a very low "ideal" weight. It might begin as a normal diet carried to extremes, reducing their food intake to a bare minimum. Rules are made of how much food they can eat in one day and how much exercise is required after eating certain amounts of food. With anorexia, there is a strong almost overwhelming fear of putting on weight and they are preoccupied with the way that their bodies look. Anorexia sometimes involves use of laxatives, diet pills, or self-induced vomiting to lose or to keep weight off (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/anorexianervosa.htm). Anorexics may show symptoms such as extreme weight loss for no medical reason. Also, many deny their hunger, chew excessively, choosing low calorie foods and exercising excessively (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health).
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).?
Anorexia represents one percent of most prevalent eating disorder diseases. The word anorexia itself means, “ lack of appetite”. Anorexia is an all-encompassing pursuit of thinness. The person effected by Anorexia has an absolute fear of becoming obese (Matthew 4).
Of the three eating disorders, anorexia gets the most attention and has the highest mortality rate of six percent out of any mental illness. According to the International Journal of Eating Disorders, half of the deaths caused by anorexia are suicide. Anorexia is when an individual feels that his or her body is distorted. Anorexia is also when an individual starves himself or herself because of the fear of being overweight (Elkins 44). If an individual suffers from anorexia they will loose anywhere from fifteen to sixty percent of their body weight by starving his or herself. Some of the symptoms of anorexia are heart problems, anemia, and fertility problems (“Eating Disorders”). Another horrible eating disorder is bulimia, which is when a person over eats, feels guilty, and then purges, take...
Today, as many as 10 out of 100 young teens struggle with an eating disorder. Each year, many teens develop eating disorders, or problems related to their weight, body image, and food. Anorexia is a serious eating disorder associated with an intense fear of weight gain and food. People who suffer from anorexia limit the amount of food they eat and have a distorted view of their body size and shape and may become dangerously thin. That is because the disorder affects not only their body but also their mind. Although the cause of anorexia is not fully understood, there is evidence that physical, biological, and social triggers are part of problems in anorexia. All of these causes revolve around the society we are living in today.