The pressure of being thin, beautiful and simply just looking perfect has become a major dispute in Americas culture. Television, Magazines and social norms effect young kids in the way they see themselves and now has turned into a main health concern. Seeing other people who you think may look perfect, is deceiving to many young girls as they think they are either overweight or just not good enough. With implying that it might result in some type of eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa. This obsession of being thin has rapidly increased over the years and is still accelerating.(DSM) This type of disorder, mainly appearing in females has over five million cases and one million in males.(family dr) Most kids with anorexia are usually perfectionist, or the kids who do extremely well in school and focus on pleasing others. (guide) Most people denying that they have this don’t know that it doing both physical and emotional damage to the body. With the research I found we will look at the etiology, symptoms and treatments of anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a fear of being overweight which results in becoming exceedingly thin. (guide) People with anorexia go to an extreme in abusing the way they diet, over exercise, and purge. When looking for symptoms in anorexia it is slightly hard to tell, for many times people keep their disorder a secret. Once someone starts undergoing this process, people sometimes gain weight rather than lose, which also initiates them to lose more weight. During the period of growth and maturation, anorexia leads to somatic and psychological development and which leads to serious health issues. (journal research) Although many don’t see what is happening, over time they are sev... ... middle of paper ... ...enough. I am just glad that she found help before things became serious. Being thin isn’t as big of a deal as some condone it. Thin to some people is the only way they will be like the girl in the movies or on the magazines. Eating properly, and exercising right will all benefit you in the long run. Young females believe that what they are doing to their body is making them look even better but it really is just making matters worse. Obsession over being thin and perfect has become so popular that are many young adults who are in suffering from this. This disorder may be one of the hardest to diagnose but one of the easiest to treat. Receiving help from someone and finding the right treatment is the first step to take. Just take a look in the mirror and let your self notice the real you, you don’t need to be extremely thin and perfect because no one is perfect.
Anorexia Nervosa may be described directly as an eating disease classified by a deficit in weight, not being able to maintain weight appropriate for one’s height. Anorexia means loss of appetite while Anorexia Nervosa means a lack of appetite from nervous causes. Before the 1970s, most people never heard of Anorexia Nervosa. It was identified and named in the 1870s, before then people lived with this mental illness, not knowing what it was, or that they were even sick. It is a mental disorder, which distorts an individual’s perception of how they look. Looking in the mirror, they may see someone overweight
“Fighting Anorexia” and “cookie monster” are two different articles based on research by some group of psychiatrists that focuses on eating disorder, which in psychology is referred to as a mental illness. Anorexia nervosa is a mental condition that describes a person’s obsession with food and the acute anxiety over weight gain (Newsweek cover, 2005). This disorder is categorized by an individual’s phobia on what to eat and what not to eat; as a result, the person begins to starve his or her self just to avoid adding more weight. The article published on the “Cookie Monster” expatiate on a research that describes how food is being used by some individuals to change their mood (McCarthy, 2001). This research shows that individuals especially college students try to subdue their emotions through the use of sweets and cookies. To further understand of these two experimental research in both articles, some important questions will be answered below.
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.
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 Nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder with the highest mortality rate of any other mental disorder. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders characterizes the disorder as “a relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy body weight”. (2014) Individuals also experience a “distortion of body image, intense fear of gaining weight and extremely disturbed eating behavior.” (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders, 2014) As a result, they experience complications physically, mentally and socially. About 80% of individuals with eating disorders suffer from cardiac complications with death due to arrhythmias being the most common cause. This paper will focus on the connection between AN and cardiovascular rhythm disturbances. Individuals with this disorder have an increased chance of sudden death due to cardiovascular abnormalities like bradycardia, myocardial modification including atrophy and refeeding syndrome. (Casiero & Frishman, 2006)
Before treatment can begin, anorexic clients must undergo assessments that ensure they are physically capable of outpatient treatment. If these individuals are not ready for outpatient treatment, they must undergo hospitalization to stabilize their condition. For those clients who pass medical examinations, and are good candidates for outpatient care, it remains necessary for a physician and dietitian to be involved with treatment (Bowers, 2002). This ensures the client is cared for in a holistic manner by addressing “nutritional rehabilitation, possibly medical stabilization, and psychological interventions” (Bowers, 2002, p. 249). This multidimensional approach ensures the client’s physical wellbeing is addressed, in addition to the psychological aspects of the disorder.
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.
intro- Ninety percent of teenage girls have been on a diet. Some take it too far and starve themselves to be thin. Over one million people in just the US are afflicted with anorexia. If what is on the inside matters, then why are does society and the media constantly promote being thin? The influence of society’s promotion of a thin body plays a significant role in the development of such eating disorders as anorexia.
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 nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are described as psychological eating disorders (Keel and Levitt, 1). They are both characterized by an over-evaluation of weight. Despite being primarily an eating disorder, the manifestations of bulimia and anorexia are different. They both present a very conspicuous example of dangerous psychological disorders, as according to the South Carolina Department of Health, “Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness” (Eating Order Statistics, 1). While Bulimia and anorexia are both psychological disorders primarily prevalent in women, anorexia tends to have different diagnostic complexities, symptoms and physiological effects as compared to bulimia.
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...
Girls all over struggle with the pressure to be perfect. Most girls want to be extremely skinny because that is what girls think guys want. All girls are different and that doesn't mean they are less pretty. Everywhere girls go, there is something around them advertising weight loss: TV ads, weightloss ads, shakes, diet pills, weight loss apps are popping up like crazy. The pressure for females to have the perfect body is insane.
It seems like every little girl dreams of becoming a model. They want to be thin and pretty like the models they see on television and in magazines. Often the desire becomes an obsession and young girls see "thinness" as being a needed characteristic. For many girls, the teenage years are spent trying to acquire this look. Females are trying diets and are exercising like it is a competition to see who can lose the most weight the quickest. The obsession of many young girls over their appearance or weight has led to a growing number of people who have developed an eating disorder to try to deal with their lack of self-esteem or other related problems.