Eating Disorders In Women

Dr. Levenkron talks about Anorexia Nervosa as a pathological distortion of today’s society of being “Fashion-model thin.” This source is reliable because it is told from a doctor's/psychotherapists perspective of the disease. It informs and broadens my research on the pathological aspect of the disease. Dr. Steven Levenkron uses case studies and specific strategies to explain and help cure the disease.

Eating disorders effecting American women have been on the rise in recent year. The alarming trend of increasing cases of these psychological disorders has sparked intellectual inquiry into their shared features. The rising amount of societal pressures that many women around the country feel have caused a lot of women to turn to food as a coping mechanism. Whether it is control exhorted over food or eating as a means to feel numb, women look to food to make themselves feel a certain way. Food, in modern culture, represents much more than just as a means of nourishing ones body. How individuals use food as a copping mechanism has in part lead to the exploitation of food. Three major eating disorders; Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating

Eating disorders have become an increasing public health problem once thought to be an affliction amongst young women, now an epidemic across culture and gender boundaries. Anorexia gives rise to serious socio-economic and bio-psychological circumstances of our ever vast, growing society. Awareness of eating disorders have increased but perhaps only in proportion to its advancement of its research and treatment. That which still leaves us in a position for a much greater demand for education and heightened awareness of this perplexing disease.

Eating disorders are one of the most prevalent mental disorders in the United States. Although this disease is typically viewed as a female disorder, males are greatly affected and may go undiagnosed and untreated due to the attached stigma. Thus, it is important to understand the risk factors associated with the development of eating disorders in males. These risk factors include: athletic involvement, sexual orientation, pre-morbid obesity, and adverse childhood experiences. Eating disorder type and symptom presentation also varies between males and females. Males typically do not meet the criteria to be categorized as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa, causing their condition to be classified as Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Symptom presentation is likely to include binge eating and excessive exercise rather than restrictive eating, purging, or other compensatory methods commonly seen in the female population. Several eating disorder assessments are available for use in clinical practice, most of which have been geared toward the female gender. New assessments, such as the Eating Disorder Assessment for Males, have been developed recently to try to hone in on the typical male symptomatology and their psychological processes. Prompt treatment of eating disorders, regardless of gender, is necessary to prevent the development of medical and psychological comorbidities. This process cannot begin until the diagnosis has been made; therefore, additional

Anorexia nervosa, a medical condition defined by an abnormal or pronounced lack of appetite, has become a household recognized condition due to its prevalence and impact. Anorexia nervosa is a major eating disorder that disrupts everyday life, resulting in extreme thinness, hormonal imbalances, behavioral signs, and health issues that can lead to death. While the disease strikes across all gender, races, and classes, the victims affected are typically young, healthy, and attractive women of successful families. The average girl affected usually ages between thirteen and nineteen years old (Landau 3). This disorder has increased rapidly over the last ten years, becoming more common each year (Landau 2-3). Women faced with both a biological

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by four criteria. The four criteria are weight is fifteen percent or more below average, the person has a distorted body image, the person fears being fat, and there is a loss of three or more periods (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 337). The subtype that will be discussed in this paper is the restricting subtype. Restricting subtype anorexia victims usually “rigidly, even obsessively, control their diet and appearance” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 337). The other subtype is the exerciser subtype. Someone who suffers from Anorexia Nervosa, the exerciser type, tends to eat a little and then compensate for eating by overly exercising (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 337). Anorexia begins to affect those around the ages twelve to eighteen, marking the transition

Eating disorders are no secret in this generation; it is a struggle women face all around the world. However the problem is becoming increasingly more prevalent in America as time continues. People do not die from suicide; they die from sadness. According to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health one in two hundred American women suffer from anorexia and twenty percent of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications caused by their eating disorder commonly between the ages of twelve to twenty-five. No girl at such a young age should have such “thin” expectations of herself. Images of women in magazines as well as the toys children play with are responsible for these expectations from adolescence to adulthood.

Anorexia is the disorder where people distinguish themselves to be overweight, rather than extremely underweight. People with anorexia obsess over food proportions and typically eat only a little amount of food. They frequently participate in exorbitant exercise as well as extreme dieting, focusing primarily on consuming the least possible amount of calories essential to subsist. People who suffer from anorexia normally have a strikingly malnourished appearance arising from the body not obtaining the nutrients it requires to sustain a healthy existence. This group of individuals has the leading mortality rate of any mental disorder as well as a tremendously extensive suicide rate in comparison to those without an eating disorder (Shiffrar;

According to the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Anorexia nervosa (AN) is defined as “an eating disorder in which people refuse to maintain a minimally required healthy weight for their age and height (body weight less than eighty five percent of expected), have an intense fear of gaining weight and significantly misinterpret their body and shape” (Hasan and Hasan, 2011). Occurring in 0.6% of the population, AN largely affects young adolescent females from a wealthy demographic between the ages 10-30 (Pinel, 2014) (Hasan and Hasan, 2011). These teenage years are distinctive periods of social, psychological, and biological changes. The complexity of the disorder lies in the fact that the cause of it cannot be pinpointed down to a particular reason or event (Lucas, 2004).

Eating disorders refer to conditions where individuals have an unhealthy relationship with food, which turn negatively various aspects of their lives. Individuals suffering from eating disorders eat either excessively large amounts of food or little food that cannot sustain their normal body functions. Such persons can equally be obsessed with thoughts of food and exercises, an aspect that may result in them having distorted bodies. Millions of American citizens suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating, as well as eating disorders that are not otherwise specified (EDNOS). The most worrying concern nonetheless, is the fact that close to 90% of those suffering from eating disorders are adolescents and young women, the former who are routinely regarded as one of the most active segments of the population (Dancyger et al., 2014). The high incidence within adolescents and young women should note be taken to denote that young men and adults do not suffer from eating disorders. The failure to adequately attend to those suffering from eating disorders predisposes them to serious mental and physical health issues, thereby routinely interfering with their personal, professional and social lives (Mehler et al., 2015). In as much as eating disorders may coexist with different mental conditions, the eating disorders tend to go undiagnosed, implying that only a small number of sufferers obtain treatment for eating disorders. This

Most people experience concerns about their weight or body shape at one time or another; however, an eating disorder is a complex psychological disorder which modifies a person's eating habits and does not represent normal issues with food (Becker, Grinspoon, Klibanski, & Herzog, 1999). Typically these disorders involve eating extremely small amounts of food, no food at all, or overeating severely. An eating disorder may begin as a desire for weight loss or physical attractiveness but somehow in some people this desire gets out of control. A person who develops an eating disorder may have started by eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but then the urge to eat more or eat less became uncontrollable at some point. Marked distress or over concern about one's weight or body shape also often typifies an eating disorder (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2011). Most eating disorders develop during the teens or during early adulthood; however, these disorders can develop between childhood up through later adulthood (Sadock & Sadock, 2007). Each year millions of people are affected by varying types of eating disorders, many of whom go untreated. In certain cases these disorders can become life-threatening. The major eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating (compulsive eating), and pica. These disorders affect people from different age groups, social economic statuses (SES), adults, and children (American Psychiatric

“I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame. I have an eating disorder” (Morrow, 2010). For 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States alone, eating disorders, such as Anorexia Nervosa, are a daily struggle. The fifth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also referred to as the DSM V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), defines Anorexia Nervosa as an eating disorder in which an individual persistently restrict his or her daily caloric intake leading to significantly low body weight. An intense fear or gaining weight or becoming fat is present, and individuals use negative

Eating disorders have become a problem among women and also men. From magazine models to watching television, being thin and losing weight is a growing fade. I feel the problem is more frequent among women.

Eating disorders are severe disturbances in eating behaviors, such as eating too little or eating too much. “Anorexia nervosa affects nearly one in 200 Americans in their lives (three-quarters of them female)” (Treating anorexia nervosa). Anorexia, when translated into Greek means “without appetite” which is not true for all suffering from anorexia most people with this disorder have not lost their appetite they simply have to ignore it. People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight and have convinced themselves that they are overweight even if they are the opposite of overweight. Since the way that they view themselves is in a negative light they starve themselves and put their lives at risk. “In the most severe